


Family Secrets

by JasonMorganfan87



Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: Abuse, Chloe Decker Finds Out, Depressed Lucifer Morningstar, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Evil Goddess, F/M, Gen, God (Lucifer TV) is a good parent, Hurt Lucifer Morningstar (Lucifer TV), Hurt/Comfort, Past Child Abuse, Protective Lucifer Morningstar (Lucifer TV), Suicidal Lucifer Morningstar, Suicidal Thoughts, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-29
Updated: 2019-08-06
Packaged: 2019-10-18 15:24:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 39,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17583410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JasonMorganfan87/pseuds/JasonMorganfan87
Summary: Why did Uriel want his mother gone so bad? What drove him to the point where he would want to eradicate his mother from existence completely? Those are questions Lucifer asks himself during their confrontation. When he finally asks the question out loud, it leads to revelations that make Lucifer question all he knows about his family and his fall.





	1. Chapter 1

**Family Secrets**

Lucifer laid on the ground and listened as Maze and Uriel fought.  He needed to get up and help.  Maze couldn’t beat Uriel.  He was too good at reading patterns.  It wouldn’t take him long to figure out Maze’s as well.  Plus, he was still planning on going after the detective.

Lucifer needed to get up, but he couldn’t at first.  All he could think about was what Uriel had told him.  About killing Mum with Azrael’s blade, erasing her from existence.  This wasn’t something their father had told him to do.  He made it clear that he didn’t know what their father really wanted.  Uriel was acting on his own. 

For the life of him, Lucifer couldn’t figure out why Uriel was doing this.  He said it was to protect their father, but it still didn’t sit right with Lucifer.  They were talking about completely destroying their mother, like she never existed.  How could Uriel even consider that.  Yes, he was closer to their father than their mother, many of Lucifer’s siblings were, but this taking it to new level entirely.  This had to take a certain degree of hate or fear.

Lucifer was forced to abandon his thoughts as he watched his brother best Maze.  He immediately got up and grabbed Azrael’s blade.  He listened as Uriel declared that he would kill both Chloe and their mother.  Lucifer couldn’t let that happen.  He had to act quickly and unpredictably to avoid Uriel anticipating him.  He could see only one way to do that.

Lucifer grabbed Uriel and prepared to kill him, but he hesitated at the last minute, his earlier thoughts nagging at him that he was missing something. 

Lucifer’s hesitance was all Uriel needed to get the upper hand.  He punched his brother and then kicked him in the arm, forcing the blade out of his hand.  “Nice try, brother, but there’s no way you’d be able to go through with it.”

Before Lucifer knew it, another punch was sent his way, and he fell to the ground.  “Why?”

Uriel laughed.  “Why?  Because despite your claims on being the Devil, you still give a damn about us.  You could never kill me.”

“No, you idiot, that’s not what I meant.  Why are you doing this?  Why do you want Mum gone so bad?” Lucifer asked.

“I told you.  I’m protecting Dad.  I can’t let him forgive her.  She’ll just destroy him,” Uriel said.

Lucifer shook his head and stood up.  There was something in his brother’s eyes, something that told him it went much deeper than that.  “You’re lying.  You want her gone.  Not to protect Dad, but for yourself.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Uriel said, his voice faltering just slightly.

Lucifer stepped closer.  “What are you hiding, brother?”

Stop.  You’re stalling.  It won’t work,” Uriel said, trying to sound strong.

Lucifer knew he was onto something, just from the way his brother’s face and voice lost their confidence.  “Tell me why, Uriel.”

“Get away from me!” Uriel said as his brother inched closer.  He pushed him away.

Lucifer noticed something as his brother pushed him.  Uriel’s clothing moved a bit, revealing something on his skin, just by his neck.  On impulse, Lucifer lunged forward and started pulling at his brother’s clothes.

“No, stop!” Uriel said urgently as he pushed at him again

Lucifer was successful in pulling his brother’s robe open before he was pushed away.  He got a really good look at what his brother was hiding.  His body was covered in scars.  “Bloody Hell, Uriel.”

Uriel covered himself back up quickly.  “Don’t make anything out of it!  We all have battle wounds.”

“Not like that.  When?” Lucifer asked.  He didn’t bother asking who.  It was quite evident who had done it given the circumstances. 

“I said it’s noth…”

“When did she do it, Uriel?  Why?” Lucifer asked.  That was another thing he needed to know.  Why had this happened.  Uriel never did anything to anyone, not until now, and it was quite clear that he had his reasons for this. 

Uriel laughed bitterly, no longer bothering to even try to hide it.  “Because she could?  I don’t know.  You guess is as good as mine.”

“It doesn’t make any sense,” Lucifer whispered, mostly to himself, as he tried to make sense of it.  His mother had changed after his father began the humanity project, but to abuse her own son when he’d done nothing to her.  Yes, Lucifer thought she’d come after him when she got out of Hell, but that was because he had let her rote down there.  Uriel had done nothing like that.  Uriel was the most timid angel in the Silver City, at least before this mess.

“No, of course, it doesn’t make sense to you.  She never touched you,” Uriel said, sounding very resentful of that fact.  “I was the only one she ever did it to.  I guess she decided I was the only one too weak to fight back.  I was the weakest of us all, right?  That’s why none of you would give me the time of day when we were children, and I was older than you.”

“This is not the same as some brotherly rivalry,” Lucifer said.  This was so much different.  Brothers hurt each other.  They excluded each other and they fought with each other.  This was a parent torturing her own son.  It was so much different.  “Who knows about this, Uriel?”

“You,” was Uriel’s only response. 

“You haven’t told Father?” Lucifer asked.

Uriel laughed.  “Yeah, right.  I’m going to tell Dad that I’m so weak I can’t fight against my own mother.”

“It doesn’t make you weak, Uriel,” Lucifer said.

“I won’t be.  I won’t let her touch me ever again!  I won’t let her touch any of us!” Uriel said strongly.

“That’s the real reason you came here.  It wasn’t to protect Dad.  It was to protect yourself… and me,” Lucifer realized.  Uriel knew their mother was in his life.  He knew he had no idea what she might do.  Uriel was trying to protect all of them. 

“It’s insane, right?  Why should I protect you?  I should be glad you’ll know how I felt.  That way you can stop complaining about how horrible a little time out was.  But for some reason, just like you couldn’t kill me, I can’t let her hurt you.  And she will.  She came after me just because she could.  What will she do to the son who let her rot in Hell?” Uriel asked.

Lucifer went over and picked up his sister’s blade, which was resting on the floor a few feet away.  “I understand, brother, but this isn’t the way to do it.”

“Then what is?” Uriel asked.  He had a desperate, scared look on his face, one he’d fought hard to hide until this point.

“I don’t know yet, but allow me to help you figure it out.  I promise you, I will not let her touch you again,” Lucifer swore. 

“Samael,” Uriel whispered.  He couldn’t help but use his brother’s former name, despite how much he knew he hated it.  He’d longed for years for someone to know, but he was too ashamed to actually tell anyone

“It’s okay, Uriel,” Lucifer said before walking over and pulling his brother into his arms.  He noticed Maze get up ready to attack again, but he quickly shook his head and flashed red eyes at her, ordering her to back off. 


	2. Chapter 2

Lucifer was sitting in the kitchen of his property in the Hills the next morning, where he’d taken Uriel to.  He couldn’t take him to the penthouse.  _She_ would be there waiting to see what happened, as would Amenadiel.  Keeping Uriel away from his mother was essential. 

Lucifer hadn’t really slept the night before.  The only thing he could think of was what he’d learned about his mother and brother.  It was still unbelievable to him.  His mother had become cold over the years, but there was cold and there was actually abusing your own child.  What she’d done to Uriel was unfathomable.

Lucifer had thought his punishment was bad, being sent to Hell and exiled from his home for eternity.  It seemed like the steepest punishment that could ever be given out.  But despite it all, his father had never raised a single finger to him.  Of course, his mother had said his father planned to kill him, but Lucifer was seriously questioning that now.  She had abused her own son.  Not much of what she said could really be trusted.

Lucifer had been going over everything that happened with his mother since she came back into his life in his head.  The new information about what she did to Uriel made it very perplexing.  She abused Uriel for nothing.  He’d done nothing to her.  Yet, Lucifer, who had allowed her to be tortured, she clung to.  It made little sense.  Of course, he was a threat to sending her back to Hell, and as she was human now, she couldn’t really do much to him.  It was possible, she was just protecting herself, or biding her time.  Uriel had said he believed she’d hurt, and given the circumstances, it seemed likely if she could.

Lucifer soon heard footsteps.  He turned to see his brother enter the room.  “Hey.  Sleep alright?”

Uriel shrugged and looked around.  “Your house looks kind of small.”

Lucifer chuckled.  “This is actually quite large for humans.  It’s considered mansion like.  I suppose it would be small compared to the Silver City though.  Speaking of which, any thoughts of returning.”

“You wanna get rid of me so bad?” Uriel asked.

“I don’t think you ought to be here, brother.  You should be far away from Mum,” Lucifer said.

“Not until I take care of her.  I will make sure she never comes back,” Uriel said firmly. 

“You could ensure that quite easily you know,” Lucifer said pointedly.

“I’m not telling Dad!” Uriel said, almost shouting.

Lucifer was quiet for a few moments as he tried to figure out how to proceed.  “How long did it go on for?  Did it start around the time that Mum started the plagues and all that?”

Uriel laughed bitterly and sat down across from his brother.  “Long before that.  I’d say around the time Dad voiced his ideas of creating humans.  Mom was pissed.  I guess she needed an outlet.”

Lucifer stared in shock.  He never would’ve guessed that it went on for that long.  They were talking about centuries.  “But that was before I rebelled, long before.”  He couldn’t’ believe it.  This had been going on long before he was ever sent to Hell.  He should’ve noticed something wasn’t right.  He should’ve been able to help.

Uriel’s only response was to nod.

“An no one ever knew?” Lucifer asked in astonishment. 

“She was good at hiding it, and I certainly had no intention of ever telling anyone.  Like I needed anyone to think I was weaker than they already thought I was,” Uriel said.

“It doesn’t make you weak, Uriel.  You should tell Father.  He could stop all of this,” Lucifer said.  He couldn’t believe he was actually advocating for involving their father in anything, but he could help Uriel.  He could ensure their mother never hurt him again.

“No.  You should be glad I don’t anyway.  He’d close ranks.  He’d make you come home, or send you back to Hell at least, far away from her.  I’m not certain at this point.  I will stop her myself.  I am not weak anymore.  I’ve already proved that once.  I got my revenge.  I was the one that told Dad what she was doing to humans,” Uriel said with a satisfied smirk.

“Does she know that?” Lucifer asked. 

“Undoubtedly,” Uriel said.  He didn’t know for sure, but he was pretty certain she knew he was responsible for sending her to Hell.  He hoped she did.  He had wanted her to know that it was his doing.

Soon, Lucifer’s phone began ringing.  He looked at her to see that it was Amenadiel.  It wasn’t the first time either.  He’d been calling all night.  His mother had too.

“Is that her?” Uriel asked.

“Amenadiel,” Lucifer told him.

“You will not tell him, Lucifer,” Uriel practically growled.

Lucifer looked up at his brother.  “He could help.”

“How?  He has no powers.  I don’t even care if he could help.  I don’t want him knowing.  The little bastard already insinuated that I was weak, though he got his for his trouble,” Uriel said.

“Uriel…”

“Promise me you won’t tell him,” Uriel demanded.

Lucifer sighed after a moment.  “Alright, I will not tell Amenadiel.”

Uriel nodded in satisfaction.  No matter what, he knew his brother would not go back on his word. 

Lucifer’s phone soon rang again.  This time it was the detective, so he immediately answered it.  “Hello, Detective.  What?  Oh, I’m afraid I can’t just now.  I’m busy at the moment.”

“Do what you have to do, brother.  I’ll be fine,” Uriel told him.

“Actually, yes, I can meet you.  At the station?  Alright, I’ll be there soon,” Lucifer said before handing up and turning to his brother.  “Are you sure?”

“I don’t need a babysitter.”

“Will you stay here?” Lucifer asked.  He wasn’t so sure this was a good idea.  He didn’t want his brother doing anything stupid.

“Don’t worry, I don’t intend to go after your detective.  I’m sorry for that,” Uriel said honestly.

“I’m more concerned that you’ll go after Mum,” Lucifer said.

“It would be kind of redundant, not to mention stupid, since you stashed the blade somewhere,” Uriel said.

Lucifer sighed.  He’d given the blade to Maze for safe keeping.  That was, of course, after insisting she put it somewhere safe where no one could touch it.  It was dangerous in human hands.  “It’s not the way to handle this anyway.  We will find a way to neutralize Mum.  I promise.  She won’t hurt anyone else.”  Of course, he knew would have to see his mother soon.  He couldn’t avoid her much longer, nor did he really want to.  He wanted to punish her for what she did.

Uriel nodded, though he didn’t seem very convinced.

Lucifer stood up and headed out of the room.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxx

 

Lucifer made it to the station about an hour later.  He found the detective seated at her desk.  “Hello, Detective.  Do we have a new case?”

“No, I just wanted to talk to you.  You’ve been on edge these last few days, thinking someone was trying to kill me.  Then Maze came home and told me you did something stupid,” Chloe said.

Lucifer rolled his eyes at the last statement.  Maze hadn’t been thrilled when he told her he was taking Uriel to one of his houses, or that he believed his brother was no longer a threat.  She still wanted him to either hand his mother over or deal with Uriel.  “Well, you can stop worrying, Detective.  I’m perfectly fine.”

“You don’t seem so.  Lucifer, I’ve known you for over a year.  I know when something is bothering you.  Something’s not right.  Something seems even worse than it was yesterday,” Chloe said. 

“Well, things are a bit complicated right now.  My brother is in town, and he’s filled me in some very disturbing things regarding our family,” Lucifer told her, knowing he had to say something to get her to stop asking.

“I didn’t know you had other siblings besides Amenadiel.  I’m guessing whatever it is involves your dad?” Chloe said.  It was a good guess in her opinion.  Everything seemed to focus on Lucifer’s father.  There were some deep issues there, given everything Lucifer had told her about him.

“No.  This time it has absolutely nothing to do with my father.  It’s quite ironic.  The problem lies with my mother,” Lucifer said.

“Do you wanna tell me about it?” Chloe asked, going straight into supportive friend mode.

Lucifer shook his head.  “It’s better that I don’t.  Suffice it to say, there are things that happened between her and my brother that I had no idea about, and it has given me a new outlook.  I need to figure out what I’m going to do about it.”

“Okay.  Well, if you change your mind, I’m willing to listen,” Chloe said.

“Thank you, Detective.  I should go,” Lucifer said.  He got up and headed out of the station.  As he made his way to the car, his phone went off yet again.  This time it was his mother.  He stared at it angrily before stuffing it back in his pocket and getting in the car.  He had quite a bit to say to his mother, but he was doing it in person.  He was sure she was still at the penthouse, so that was his next destination. 


	3. Chapter 3

Lucifer stepped off the elevator and into his penthouse.  The  first thing he saw was his mother seated on the couch, and for the first time, he felt hate build inside of him.  He’d never felt such an emotion for his mother before.  Even when he was angry with her for doing nothing as he was sent to Hell, he didn’t hate her.  He was simply angry and hurt.  Right now, he hated her.

All Lucifer  thought about was Uriel.  He didn’t deserve what their mother did to him.  None of his siblings did, but especially not Uriel.  Even as a child, Uriel was probably the most well-behaved out of all of them, even Amenadiel.  He rarely caused trouble or fought with anyone.  It was partially why he was shunned so much by his sibling.  They all considered him to be less than fun.  No one wanted to hang around someone so intent on behaving.  That was especially true for Lucifer.  But all of that was why what happened to him was so devastating. 

Charlotte stood up as her son walked in.  “Son, where have you been?  I’ve been calling you all night.”

“Yes, I know,” Lucifer said as he walked further in.  He avoided direct eye contact because he knew he’d throttle her if he looked directly at her.  Though that was something that seemed unavoidable nonetheless.  Hell, he wanted to.  He wanted to make her suffer for what she did.

“I had Amenadiel go out looking for you,” Charlotte said.

“Did you?” Lucifer asked as he walked past her and over to the bar. 

“Did you speak with Uriel?” Charlotte asked.

“Hmm,” was his only response as he poured himself a drink. 

“Well, how did it go?  Is he alright?” Charlotte asked as she walked over to him.

Lucifer could scream.  She didn’t give a damn if Uriel was okay.  In fact, if Lucifer told her he’d killed him, like he almost had, she’d probably be elated, both that the son she tortured was gone, and that her secret would never be discovered.  “He’s fine.”

“Were you able to change his mind?” she asked.

“About you?  No, I doubt there’s anything I can say that would,” Lucifer said.  Not that he’d try at this point.  Uriel was right to wish her death.  He was right to hate her for the rest of his existence. 

“Then you have to give him what he wants.  You need to turn me over to him.  I don’t want to see your life torn apart because of me,” Charlotte said.

Lucifer swallowed the contents of his drink and then turned to look at his mother scathingly.  “Mother, if I have it my way, you will never so much as be in the same room with Uriel again!  I will not let you touch him!”

Charlotte stepped back and regarded her son carefully.  It was clear that Uriel had informed his brother of some things.  “What happened with Uriel?”

Lucifer lost the ability to keep his anger and hatred in relative check.  His eyes began glowing red.  “I learned why Uriel hates you so much.  You tormented him for centuries!”

“Th…That’s ridiculous.  I would never hurt my own son.  I don’t know why he’d…”

“Shut up!” Lucifer yelled so loudly that he wouldn’t be surprised if they heard him down in the club.  “I knew something was wrong.  Uriel hates you so much that he came down here without Father telling him to in order to get rid of you.  He was willing to kill a human just to see it happen.  There had to be a reason for that.”

“Son, Uriel is manipulating you.  I don’t know why, but he wants to turn you against me,” Charlotte said.  She had to convince him Uriel was lying.  Lucifer on her side was the only way to get what she wanted.

“Mother, if you lie to me one more time, I swear, I will rip you apart!” Lucifer said in a dangerously low tone.

Charlotte became angry.  How dare he threaten her.  She was his mother.  She was the Goddess of all Creation.  She could rip him to pieces, and that was exactly what she intended to do.  She smacked him at full force, causing him to be knocked back several feet.

Lucifer laid on the ground shocked for a minute.  He wasn’t surprised she’d hit him.  She proved what she was capable of with what she did to Uriel.  What shocked him was that she had the power to hurt him.  He thought she’d lost her Goddess power, but it seemed she still had quite a bit of strength.

Lucifer got over his shock quickly and rose to his feet.  “Well, it seems there’s more Goddess in you than I thought.

Charlotte prowled towards him.  “You dare threaten me, you little bastard?  I will put you in your place.”

Lucifer motioned for her to come at him.  “Have at it then.  I warn you though, this will be different than with Uriel.”

“Oh, I know.  I’ll enjoy it more,” Charlotte smirked before shoving her son, causing him to crash into the bar.

Lucifer got up quickly and slapped her with his full strength, causing her to fall to the floor.  “Uriel wouldn’t fight back.  I know you think it’s because he’s weak, but the real reason is that at the time, he still felt he had to respect you, because that is how he was before you beat it out of him.  Me?  I have no such scruples.”

Charlotte laughed evilly and grabbed him by the collar of his dress shirt before lifting him up and throwing him across the room like a ragdoll.  “You can fight if you wish.  It will only make it that much worse for you.”

Lucifer pulled himself up and wiped the blood that had appeared from a cut to his lip.  “You know, I think I prefer you this way.  No more claims of love and wishes to be a family.”

“I prefer it too, son,” Charlotte said.  She was at his side in a second, and had him by the throat.  “Because it was nauseating to even say.  How could I ever love someone like you?  How could anyone?”

Lucifer didn’t allow the words to register for long, because he knew they would hurt if he did, and that would slow him down.  Instead, he headbutted his mother hard, causing her to lose her grip on his neck and fall to the ground.

Charlotte got up quickly.  Her son attempted to attack again, but she was quicker.  She kicked him in the stomach.

Lucifer began to slow as he picked himself up.  He wobbled as he attempted to keep himself from falling to the ground again. 

“The truth is, I never loved you.  I never loved any of you.  I never wanted children.  That was your father’s idea.  I was content with just the two of us.  Of course, I came to tolerate some of you, like Amenadiel.  I would even admit to some affection for him and a couple others, but not love,” Charlotte said before hitting him again.  He hit the bar again, this time breaking it in half.

Lucifer didn’t get up this time.  Every inch of his body ached, and he could feel blood all over his face.  It occurred to him now that this might not have been the best idea.  He couldn’t’ win this fight.  His mother was much stronger than him.  Of course, in his defense, he didn’t’ think his mother had her strength when he decided to confront her.

“You, however, I’ve always hated,” Charlotte said before picking him up by the throat and lifting him off the ground.  “You want to know why I abused Uriel?”

“Because you’re an evil bitch!” Lucifer barely managed to choke out with the hand squeezing his throat. 

“Because I couldn’t have you,” Charlotte said before throwing him away from her.  He hit a bookshelf, causing it to fall on top of him. 

Lucifer groaned in pain as he laid there.  He couldn’t even try to get up.

Charlotte went over and pulled the shelf off of him.  “You’re the one I wanted to hurt.  God’s favorite son.  You could do no wrong in his eyes.  I wanted you to suffer, but I knew I could never touch you.  Still, there were other ways.  I saw my opportunity when you started rebelling against your father.  When started speaking of Free Will.  All it took was a little nudging.  A little talk about how things could be different.”

Lucifer could barely concentrate, but he did recall his mother talking to him a few times in Heaven about how well he could do if the reigns were loosened a little bit.  She helped him come to the realization that he could rebel.  “You wanted me sent to Hell.”

“No.  I wanted him to kill you,” Charlotte said before kicking him several times in the stomach.

Lucifer groaned and curled up in a ball to try to keep the blows away. 

“But he wouldn’t do it.  As I’m sure you’ve figured out, I lied about your father wanting to destroy you.  In fact, he thought you could be reasoned with.  He thought if he could just speak with you and make you understand why things were the way they were, you’d come around,” Charlotte said.

Lucifer’s head was spinning, and not just from the beating he took.  If he was understanding correcting, and he might not be after how many times his head hit something hard, his father hadn’t wanted him sent to Hell.  His mother had been the one to suggest it.

“You have no idea how hard it was to convince him.  I had to tell him you were planning another fight, and this time, you intended to kill your siblings.  That’s the only way he would even agree to send you Hell,” Charlotte said with an evil smirk.

“Bitch!” Lucifer croaked out.  He couldn’t believe how wrong he was.  According to his mother, she was the bad guy.  She was the one who wanted his undoing.  His father…  His father was the one that truly loved him, and he’d vilified him for it.  If it was true, that was a blow he didn’t even know how to begin to recover from.

Charlotte laughed and pulled him up by his suit jacket.  She punched him, sending hurling towards the glass coffee table, which shattered instantly.

Lucifer was barely conscious, and he couldn’t see straight.  He swore there were three of his mother as she came towards him. 

“As fun as this is, I need to go find Uriel.  There is much he has to answer for.  I’d ask you where he is, but even in this state, you wouldn’t tell me.  Don’t worry, son.  I’ll come back for you,” Charlotte said before heading towards the elevator.

Lucifer barely heard the elevator ding before he lost the battle to stay awake.


	4. Chapter 4

Chloe was sitting at her desk thinking about Lucifer.  She was worried about him.  He’d seemed really worried when he was there.  He had been worried for days, but before it was the unrealistic belief that someone had orchestrated her car accident.  In her mind, he was just being paranoid.  This was different.  His brother had told him something bothersome about his mother, and it had him on edge and upset.  She just hoped it wasn’t too bad that it ended up hurting him worse, and she hoped he didn’t do anything stupid.

“Chloe.”

Chloe pulled out of her thoughts after hearing her name.  She looked up and saw Dan approaching her.  “Hey, Dan.  What do you need?”

“Patrol just got a call about a disturbance.  They thought we might want to handle it,” Dan said.

Chloe frowned in confusion.  “Why would a homicide unit want to respond to a noise disturbance?”

“The call came from Lux, and the caller said the disturbance came from the penthouse,” Dan told her.

Chloe immediately got up.  “I’ll go.”

“Do you want me to come with you?” Dan asked.

“No, it’s probably nothing.  Lucifer’s probably just being Lucifer,” Chloe said.  She was saying it more for herself than Dan.  She wanted to believe Lucifer was with some woman and they just got a bit out of hand, but after the conversation she had with Lucifer earlier, she feared that wasn’t the case.  Still, she preferred to go alone. 

“Yeah, probably,” Dan said with a laugh.

Chloe grabbed her jacket and headed out.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxx

 

Chloe took in the destroyed penthouse as she stepped off the elevator.  It was completely trashed.  Furniture was either turned over or destroyed, and there was blood and glass on the floor.

Chloe immediately pulled out her gun.  “Lucifer?”

There was no response. 

“Lucifer, it’s Chloe.  Please answer me,” Chloe said as she walked further inside.  She looked from side to side, looking for anyone that might be there and might attack.  There was no sign, but she quickly checked the bedroom and bathroom before walking back out to the main room.  Then she saw him.  Lucifer was on the floor by the couch unconscious.  The glass from the shattered coffee table was all around him.

Chloe holstered her gun and went to her partner’s side.  She knelt down beside him and checked his pulse, sighing in relief when she found it.  It was a bit faint though.  “Lucifer, can you hear me.  Please wake up.”

There was no response.

Chloe took her phone out and dialed 911.  She put it to her ear and waited impatiently for an answer.  “This is Detective Chloe Decker.  I need an ambulance at Lux night club.  I man’s been badly hurt.  It looks like he was beaten.”

Chloe listened as the woman on the other end spoke.  “Yes, he’s breathing, and he has a pulse, but he’s unconscious.”  She quickly gave the dispatcher the address and hung up.

Chloe put her hand on Lucifer’s back.  She wanted to look him over to see how badly injured he was, but she knew better than to move him.  She might just hurt him worse.  “Lucifer, can you hear me.  I need you to wake up, okay?”

Again, there was no answer.

Chloe couldn’t believe this was happening.  She’d seen Lucifer less than two hours ago, and he was fine, albeit kind of upset.  Now he was on the floor of his destroyed apartment with glass and blood all around him.  “Please, Lucifer, wake up.”

Before Chloe could do anything else, she heard the elevator ding.  She immediately got up pulled out her gun, just in case Lucifer’s assailant had returned.  However, she soon discovered that it was Amenadiel.

“What the hell?” Amenadiel asked in disbelief.

“Amenadiel,” Chloe said before lowering her weapon once more. 

It didn’t take long for Amenadiel to notice his brother.  He immediately ran over to him  “Luci.  What happened?”

“I don’t know.  I found him like this,” Chloe said.

“You found him like this?” Amenadiel repeated.  That was significant.  If Chloe wasn’t there to make him vulnerable, then it wasn’t a human that did hurt his brother.  It had to be a celestial, and Amenadiel could only think of one that had been around lately that would’ve done it.  Uriel. 

“Yeah.  Someone called in a disturbance,” Chloe said as she bent down again.  “There’s an ambulance on the way.”

Amenadiel’s first instinct was argue against his brother going to the hospital.  Lucifer wasn’t human.  Who knew what they’d learn about him?  However, there wasn’t anything he could do for Lucifer here, nor anything anyone else could, aside from his father.  A hospital was his best bet.  “Luci, can you hear me.  You’ve gotta wake up, little brother.”

Finally, a groan could be heard from Lucifer.

“Lucifer?” Chloe asked as she gently touched his back.

“Detective,” Lucifer spoke.  He barely seemed coherent.

“I’m right here.  You’re gonna be okay.  There’s an ambulance on the way,” Chloe told him.

“Uriel,” was the only thing managed to say before he lost consciousness again.

“Who’s Uriel?  Lucifer?” Chloe asked.  She was met with silence.  Luckily, it was only seconds before she heard sirens.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxx

 

Chloe was standing in the emergency room with Amenadiel.  They were waiting to hear news on Lucifer, but so far there was none.  “Amenadiel, who is Uriel?”

“My brother.  He showed up a couple of days ago.  He wanted Lucifer to do something, but he wouldn’t.  Clearly, this was Uriel’s response,” Amenadiel said angrily.

“You think he did this?” Chloe asked. 

“It had to be him.  No one else around could’ve hurt Lucifer like this.  Plus, you heard Lucifer say his name when woke up,” Amenadiel said.

“Yes, but I’m not certain he was identifying his attacker.  Lucifer came to the station not long before this happened.  He mentioned that your brother was in town, and that there was something going on between him and your mother,” Chloe said.

“Right.  Luci was on Mom’s side.  He wouldn’t let him hurt her,” Amenadiel said.  Well, that was sort of the case.  He was sure Lucifer would’ve handed his mother over if he truly thought there was no other way to save Chloe from him.

“That’s not the impression I got.  He didn’t tell me exactly what happened, but it seemed very clear to me that he was on Uriel’s side,” Chloe said.

“What?” Amenadiel asked, a little caught off guard. 

“Your brother told him something that had him really unnerved, and he said it was about your mother,” Chloe told him.

“Well, Uriel wants to hurt our mother.  What he says can’t really be trusted.  Though I don’t know why Lucifer would believe him,” Amenadiel said.

“Amenadiel, you and I both know that Lucifer isn’t easily duped.  If he believes your brother, then what he said was obviously somehow backed up, especially since you say he was on your mother’s side previously,” Chloe said.

“So, you think my mother did this to Lucifer?  She couldn’t have,” Amenadiel said.  First of all, his mother had wanted nothing more than Lucifer’s forgiveness and acceptance when she came back.  She wanted him in her life.  She wouldn’t hurt him.  Even if she wanted to though, he powers were gone.  She was essentially human.  She didn’t have the power to inflict such damage on Lucifer.  “Uriel did this.  He’s the only one that could have.”

“Chloe.”

Chloe turned to see Dan.  She immediately got up and went over to him.  “Hey.”

“Any news?” Dan asked.  He wasn’t exactly a big fan of Lucifer’s, but he didn’t deserve to be attacked like that.  Plus, Chloe really cared about him, and she was worried about him.

“No, we’re still waiting on the doctor.  Did you find anything at the penthouse?” Chloe said.

“No, but it was clearly a big fight.  There was definitely a struggle,” Dan said.

Chloe nodded.  She knew that when she went stepped one foot inside, which kind of perplexed her if her theory of Lucifer’s mother doing it was correct.  How could any woman have caused that much damage to him?  No matter how strong she was, it didn’t seem possible.  Of course, it was possible she wasn’t alone.  Maybe there were other assailants, or maybe Amenadiel was right.

“The EMTs took Lucifer’s phone off of him and gave it to one of the officers,” Dan said before pulling it from his pocket.  “It might help.”

Chloe took it started looking at the call log.  When she found what she was looking for, she walked back over to Amenadiel.  “Amenadiel, the last person to call Lucifer was your mother.”

Amenadiel watched as she showed him the call log that had the would ‘Mum’ displayed at the top.  “Yeah, she’s been calling him all night.  So have I.  It doesn’t mean anything.”

“Amenadiel, this call came in right after Lucifer left the police station.  He probably hadn’t even made it to his car yet.  And the next thing we know, he’s bleeding to death in his penthouse,” Chloe said.

“She couldn’t have done it.  Even if she wanted to hurt him, he would’ve fought her and won,” Amenadiel said.

“When’s the last time you saw her?” Chloe asked.

“A couple of hours ago.  We were waiting for Lucifer at the penthouse.  I went out to look for him,” Amenadiel told her.

“So, as far as you know, your mother was at the penthouse when Lucifer went home.”

Amenadiel started at her for a moment, thinking about that implication.  He quickly shook his head.  It couldn’t be like that.  He supposed his mother could have more of her Goddess powers than they thought, but she wouldn’t use them against her own son, right?

“Do you know where we can find her?” Chloe asked.

“No,” Amenadiel lied.  There were places he knew of to help find his mother, but he couldn’t tell Chloe.  If she did have her Goddess powers, Chloe would be no match for her.

Chloe sat down next to him.  She knew he was lying.  “Amenadiel, I know it has to be hard hearing things about your mother, but there is a very good chance that she attacked your brother, and a good chance she’s going after your other brother.  You heard Lucifer.  He said Uriel’s name.  It’s possible that he did so because he’s afraid for him.  Lucifer’s already in the hospital.  Do you want the same for Uriel?”

Before either of them could say anything else, a new voice called out to them.  “Detective?”

Chloe looked over to see the doctor come out.  She immediately went over.  Dan walked over as well

“Your partner should be okay.  He’s really banged up, but there won’t be any permanent damage,” the doctor told her.

Chloe breathed a sigh of relief.  “That’s great.  Is he awake?”

“No, and he probably won’t be for a while.  We gave him something for the pain.  As soon as we get him into a room though, you’re welcome to sit with him,” he said.

“Thank you,” Chloe said before turning back to speak to Amenadiel again.  Unfortunately, he was nowhere to be found.  “Damn it.”

“I’ll find him.  You should stay with Lucifer,” Dan said. 

“Thanks, Dan,” Chloe said before sitting down in the waiting room.  As she sat there, she vowed that she would find Lucifer’s mother and make her pay if she really did this.  The person who hurt Lucifer was going to be punished for it no matter what she had to do. 

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

Chloe sat at her partner’s side as he slept.  She was really angry and heartbroken as she looked at him.  She was pissed that someone had dared to do this to him.  Someone had attacked her partner, a member of the LAPD, badge or not.  This was personal, and she was going to make the person responsible pay.

Chloe was hurt on her partners behalf, not only because someone had attacked him in his own apartment unjustly, but because that person was most likely his own mother.  Unfortunately, it didn’t surprise her anymore when a parent abused their own children, but it never ceased to disgust her.  She was a mother.  She would sooner die than cause her child pain.  From everything she knew, all Lucifer’s parents seemed to do was cause him pain, and not by accident.

Chloe was pulled from her thoughts when she heard a light tapping from the open door.  She turned to see Lucifer’s psychiatrist, Linda.  “Hi, Linda.  Come on in.”

Linda walked inside, getting a better look at her patient laying on the bed with his face completely bruised, and hooked up to machines.  She’d never seen Lucifer so banged up.  “What happened?”

“He was attacked at the penthouse.  Linda, I called you hear because I need to know if Lucifer has ever mentioned his mother or his brother, Uriel, before,” Chloe said.  She knew it wasn’t right to even ask, as Linda was Lucifer’s psychiatrist, but if his mother did do this, Uriel could be in danger.  She had to find one of them before it was too late.

“Chloe, I can’t answer that.  Anything he may have told me would’ve been in session,” Linda said immediately.

“I know, but I have reason to believe that Lucifer’s mother did this to him, and that she’s after his brother, Uriel, next,” Chloe said.

“I’m sorry, but my restrictions are clear.  Unless Lucifer, himself, is a threat to himself or others, I can’t breech his confidentiality.  Plus, I don’t think anything I could say would help anyway.  You should talk to Amenadiel.  Someone has called him, right?” Linda asked.  Amenadiel and Lucifer had a volatile relationship at times, but she had no doubt that Amenadiel loved his brother.  H would want to be there.

“Amenadiel showed up at the penthouse before the ambulance got there.  He was here, but he left when my back was turned.  He didn’t seem ready to believe that his mother is capable od doing this,” Chloe said.  She couldn’t really blame him.  No one wanted to believe that their mother was capable of brutalizing their brother.

“What about Maze?  Have you called her?”

Chloe nodded.  “I called hours ago, but she went out late last night and her intentions of getting wasted clear.  She’s probably a little preoccupied right now.”

Soon, they both heard Lucifer groan from the bed. 

Chloe turned to her partner and grabbed his hand.  “Lucifer? Can you hear me?”

“Detective?” Lucifer asked in an almost inaudible tone.

“You’re okay.  You’re in the hospital.  Can you tell me what happened?  Did your mother do this to you?” Chloe asked.

Lucifer nodded his head, an act he instantly regretted, as it made his already pounding head heart worse.  “Underestimated her.  Didn’t think she could win.”

“It’s okay,” Chloe said as she squeezed his hand.

“I was wrong.  Thought I could trust her.  I thought…”

“Lucifer, it’s alright.  She won’t hurt you again,” Chloe promised.  She didn’t care what she had to do.  She would make sure this woman could never hurt Lucifer again.

“She betrayed me.  I can’t face him.  I can never face him again,” Lucifer said with pain laced in his voice.

Chloe was confused.  Lucifer went from talking about his mother to someone else entirely, someone he felt he’d let down.  “Who can’t you face, Lucifer.  Is it your brother, Uriel?”

Until that moment, Lucifer had forgotten about Uriel, overwhelmed both by everything that had happened, and whatever they had him on.  But now he remembered.  Uriel was in danger.  “Uriel!”

Chloe watched as Lucifer tried to get up.  She immediately grabbed him to stop him.  Linda came over to help as well.  “No, Lucifer.  You need to stay in bed.”

“Lucifer, you’re hurt.  You can’t go anywhere,” Linda added.

Lucifer’s head began to spin, and he immediately fell back onto the bed.  He grabbed his pounding and spinning head.  “I have to help him.  She’ll kill him.”

“Do you know where he is, Lucifer.  I will go help him if you can tell me that,” Chloe promised.

“You can’t,” Lucifer said before this vision went black once more.

“Lucifer?” Chloe called.

“He’s out.  I imagine he’s on some strong pain killers,” Linda said.

“Damn it.  I should’ve asked him sooner.  I have to find these people before Lucifer’s brother becomes another victim,” Chloe said.  She really should go to the station, but she didn’t want to leave Lucifer.

Linda could see how torn she was.  “Go do what you have to do.  I’ll stay with Lucifer.”

Chloe nodded before getting up and heading to the door. 

 

Xxxxxxxxxxx

 

When Chloe walked through the station, she found Dan and Ella by Dan’s desk.

Ella was the first one to spot her.  “Hey.  How’s Lucifer?”

“He’s gonna be okay.  He was awake for a few minutes.” Chloe said.

“Did he tell you anything?” Dan asked.

“Yeah.  His mother is responsible,” Chloe said.

“Oh my God!  What kind of mother hurts her own kid like that?” Ella asked in disbelief. 

“Unfortunately, parents like that aren’t as uncommon as we’d like to think,” Chloe said sadly.

“We still have nothing on this guy, Uriel.  I put Uriel Morningstar into the system, and came up empty.  It’s not really surprising.  There was nothing on Lucifer until six years ago, so his last name was probably changed.  I haven’t found Amenadiel either.  I’m sorry, Chloe,” Dan said.

“It’s not your fault.  Lucifer wasn’t conscious enough to tell me where to find Uriel, but he did say that his mother is likely going after him.  He’s afraid she’s going to kill him,” Chloe said.

“How is this woman beating grown men nearly to death?  I mean, I know some women can be really strong, but I’ve seen how well Lucifer can handle himself.  How did she do this?” Dan wondered. 

“I don’t know.  Maybe she didn’t do it alone.  Lucifer didn’t mention anyone else, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t anybody,” Chloe said.

“Decker.”

Chloe looked to see Maze coming their way.  “Maze, I’m glad you’re here.  I’ve been trying to get ahold of you.”

“Yeah, I got your messages.  What’s going on?” Maze demanded to know.

Chloe quickly explained the condition she found Lucifer in at the penthouse, and how he was now at the hospital. 

“That little bastard!  I’m gonna kill him!” Maze snarled.  Lucifer might not technically be her boss anymore, but he was still the Devil and she was still a demon.  It was built in her to defend him against any threat. 

“I’m guessing you’re talking about Uriel,” Chloe deduced.  Amenadiel had thought Uriel was the culprit, so it wasn’t that farfetched that Maze would think that too.  “Lucifer’s brother didn’t do this to him.  His mother did.  He managed to wake up long enough to tell me that.”

“What?” Maze asked in a dangerously low tone.  “Idiot!  I told him letting that bitch walk around free was going to cost him!”

“Maze, I have to find Lucifer’s mother and brother before his mother takes another victim.  Lucifer is certain his mother is going after Uriel,” Chloe said.

“Uriel’s at the place Lucifer has in the Hills.  He took him there last night,” Maze said.  Lucifer told her where he was bringing his brother for the night when he’d ordered her to hide the blade the angel had on him. 

“I need an address,” Chloe said.

“I’ll take you,” Maze said.  There was no way Decker was going without her.  If that bitch goddess did show up, Decker was screwed.  She obviously had her powers if she was able to best Lucifer.  Maze would go alone, but she knew Decker would make that difficult.  Plus, she’d be able to find the address herself with little trouble.

“No, Maze.  This is a police matter.”

“I’m going, Decker.  You can come or not,” Maze said.

Chloe sighed before following her roommate through the station.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxx

 

Uriel was growing concerned.  He hadn’t heard from his brother in hours.  He supposed that Lucifer could have gotten sidetracked by his job, but Uriel just felt like something was wrong.  Something just seemed off.

Uriel soon heard a door opening, followed by a voice that haunted his nightmares. 

“Hello, Uriel.”

Uriel turned and looked at sadistic bitch he’d hoped would rot in hell for eternity.  He couldn’t deny feeling fear, but to his credit, he didn’t let her see it.  Instead, he snarled hatefully as he spoke.  “Mother.”


	6. Chapter 6

Uriel regarded the woman that he unfortunately called his mother with both hatred and trepidation.  He would be stupid not be at least somewhat fearful of her.  He knew exactly what she could do to him because she had already done it all.  However, he also wouldn’t take it laying down this time.  He was not like he was before.  He would fight, even if he knew he’d lose.

“Aren’t you happy to see me, son,” Charlotte asked as she took a step towards her son.

As much as he was tempted to, Uriel did not step back as his mother advanced on him.  He would not cower to her this time.  He would not plead for her not to hurt him and he would not run.  He would not give the satisfaction of doing any of that ever again.

“You have been looking for me, haven’t you?” Charlotte asked.

“To obliterate you,” Uriel said hatefully.

Charlotte put her hand to her chest in feigned pain.  “Oh, son, that’s such an awful thing to say about your mother.  You’ve broken my heart.”

“You’d have to have one.  Are you just going to stand there all day or are we going to get on with this?” Uriel asked.

“Such boldness.  One would almost think you were strong.  You and I know better though, don’t we?  We know how you like to cower in the corner when you know you’ve earned punishment.  Even now, as you try to hide it, I can sense your fear.  You should be afraid.  You had me sent to Hell,” Charlotte said.  She was directly in front of him in an instant and had him by the neck.  She lifted him off the ground and sent into the wall.

Uriel picked himself up a moment later.  “Yes, and the memory of telling Dad how you tried to destroy his newest creations, knowing he’d make you suffer, will always be my most pleasant. 

“Really?  We’ll see how you feel once we’re finished, providing you’re still alive,” Charlotte said sadistically.

“Have at it, bitch!” Uriel said hatefully.

Before Charlotte could respond to her son’s taunting, another voice filled the room.

“Mom, Uriel!”

Both turned to see Amenadiel by the front door.

“Son, what are you doing here?” Charlotte asked.

“I was looking for Uriel.  I knew Lucifer had a place up here.  I thought he might be here,” Amenadiel said.

“Amenadiel, leave,” Uriel said.  Amenadiel had no powers at all right now.  He had even less of a prayer than Uriel did of beating their mother.  While Uriel wasn’t too close with his oldest brother, he did not want to see him subjected to his mother’s wrath. 

“You should listen to him,” Charlotte agreed.  She didn’t particularly want to hurt Amenadiel.  While she didn’t exactly love him, she was more fond of him than any of the others.  She had no desire to hurt him.  But that certainly didn’t mean she wouldn’t if he forced her hand. 

“Lucifer’s in the hospital,” Amenadiel said.

“He’s what?!” Uriel asked with a mixture of shock and concern.

Amenadiel’s eyes remained trained on his mother, hoping for some kind of reaction that her son was in trouble.  There was none.  She didn’t seem at all concerned about it.  She didn’t care.  “We found him beaten nearly to death in the penthouse.  You’re not surprised, Mom.  You did it to him.”

“You bitch!” Uriel screamed before rushed towards her.

Charlotte caught him by the arm, twisting it behind his back, and bending it until she heard it snap.

Uriel yelled in pain as he finally pried himself away from her.

“Mom, stop!” Amenadiel yelled.  He rushed over and took her by the arm.

“I don’t want to hurt you, son,” Charlotte said before pulling him off of her with ease, bruising his arm in the process.  “Unlike most of your unbearable siblings, I actually like you somewhat.  So, you can walk away now, and I will not harm you.  You should consider yourself lucky, since I should punish you for carrying me to Hell.  However, if you try to fight me, you will receive the same treatment as your brothers.”

“Why?  Why are you doing this?  Why do you want to hurt Lucifer and Uriel?  They’re your children,” Lucifer said.

Charlotte shrugged.  “In name, I suppose.  I never cared about them.  I’ve always hated Lucifer.  From the moment of his creation I loathed him.  I suppose because of how much your father worshipped him.  You all did, in fact.  You treated him like he was the best thing in the world.  That is of course until he fell from Grace.”

Amenadiel noticed the self-satisfied look on her face when she said that last part.  She looked proud.  That unnerved him.  It made him think that maybe there was more to Lucifer’s fall than he’d known.  “What did you do?”

At that moment, Uriel snuck behind this mother.  He extended his wings and used them to fling her across the room.

Charlotte fell into the door, breaking it down instantly.  She got up and approached her son.  “You little bastard!  You’re going to pay for that!”

“Mom, no!” Amenadiel exclaimed before putting himself between his mother and brother.  He didn’t care if he didn’t have any powers.  He was the oldest brother.  It was his job to protect his younger siblings.

Charlotte grabbed him by the neck.  “I warned you not to get involved.

Before Amenadiel knew what was happening, he was thrown several feet into the air, hitting and breaking the large screen television mounted on the wall before hitting the ground.  He laid there, barely being able to move.

“Police!” a voice yelled from the doorway of the kitchen.  It was Chloe, with Maze next to her.

Taking one look at the scene, Maze swore loudly.  “Decker, get out of here!”

Chloe looked around in shock and confusion.  Amenadiel was on the ground looking almost as bad as Lucifer.  Charlotte Richards was several feet away with hate in her eyes.  The thing that really caught Chloe’s attention, however, was the guy by the couch clutching a clearly broken arm, with a pair of large wings coming from his back.  “Oh my God.”

“Not quite, Detective, but close,” Charlotte said with an evil smile.

“Chloe, you have to go,” Amenadiel groaned out. 

“Why should she leave?  Let her be a part of the fun we’re all having,” Charlotte said.

“Mom, don’t,” he said.

Chloe looked between Amenadiel and Charlotte.  “Charlotte Richards is your mother?”

“Decker, get the hell out of here!” Maze ordered before approaching Charlotte, taking both her blades out with ease.  “I told Lucifer to send your ass back to Hell.”

“As if he could have, even before he cut off his wings.  He wanted to think otherwise, but he had no power over me.  I proved that to him,” Charlotte said before grabbing ahold of the demon’s arm.

Maze kicked her in the face with her leg, forcing her to let go.

Charlotte laughed.  “You have no power over me outside of Hell, Mazikeen.  I’m the Goddess of Creation.  You’re nothing but a bug, just like Lucifer, and the rest of this lot here,” she said before backhanding her hard, sending her several feet back.

Maze pulled herself up.  “Let’s go, you psychotic bitch!  I’ve been wanting to go at you for a long time.”

“Same here,” Charlotte said before moving to punch her.

Maze blocked with her left wrist and managed to slash the goddess’ wrist with her blade.

Charlotte yelled out.  “I will make you wish you hadn’t done that.”  She kicked her in the stomach, sending her into the wall.

“Stop!” Chloe yelled before taking a shot at Charlotte, hitting her in the leg.  It didn’t seem to do anything to her.

Charlotte approached the detective and punched her.  “You have been a problem since I returned.  Instead of being susceptible to my manipulations, like he always has been, Lucifer was focused on you.

Chloe hit the floor hard.  She felt like she’d just been hit by a truck, instead of one single punch.

Uriel went after his mother again, grabbing her by the arm with his good hand.

“Oh, Hello, son.  Did you want some attention again, son?  I can absolutely oblige,” Charlotte said before kneeing him the stomach, forcing him to bend down.  She then grabbed him his left wing.  The strongest, and yet, also the most vulnerable part of an angel was their wings.

Uriel screamed as his mother fisted her hand into his wing and then used her other hand to grab it and bend it until it started to snap.  He screamed even louder then.

Charlotte then began kicking her son in the stomach over and over as he laid on the floor in agony, no longer able to even try to fight.  “I told you I was going to make you suffer.  You will remember your place once I’m done with you!”

Amenadiel watched helplessly as Uriel was beaten mercilessly.  Chloe was on the ground a few feet away from him, barely conscious, and Maze was getting ready to go after his mother again.  The problem was, she was no match for the Goddess of Creation.

Amenadiel knew they were all screwed if they didn’t get help.  They would all die.  So, he did the only thing he thought would help.  “He prayed.  _‘Father, help.  Mom’s lost it.  She’s killing Uriel.  She’ll kill us all.’_

Chloe was fighting not to lose consciousness, but it was very difficult.  Her vision was clouding by the second. The last thing she saw, if she wasn’t hallucinating, was a man with black hair appear out of nowhere, looking much like Lucifer.  She would’ve assumed it was him if she didn’t know any better.  She also heard Amenadiel utter a single word.

“Father.”


	7. Chapter 7

God was both shocked and frightened when he got Amenadiel’s prayer.  It wasn’t the fact that he prayed.  Amenadiel had often prayed to him since losing his powers, and it was with a heavy heart that he ignored those prayers.  He didn’t want to, but there was nothing he could do for him.  Well, he supposed he could return his oldest son’s powers, but it wouldn’t do him any good when Amenadiel didn’t feel he deserved them.

The nature of the prayer was what got to God.  Amenadiel claimed he and Uriel were being attacked, and by their own mother.  That sprung the Creator of the Universe into action.  He normally chose to stay sidelined these days, even when it came to his children, but he would not stand by as they were harmed.

When God got to their location, he was horrified and enraged.  The seen was horrendous.  Amenadiel and Uriel were both on the ground hurt.  Amenadiel was bleeding and looked like he wouldn’t stay conscious much longer, and Uriel was on the ground with a clearly broken wing, and getting kicked in the stomach over and over by his mother as he curled into himself to soften the blows.  Chloe Decker was also present, and badly injured, as was his son, Samael’s, most trusted demon.

God’s concern was mainly for his sons.  They were being savagely abused, and he would have none of it.  He reached his wife in seconds, who had just barely noticed his presence before his hand found he neck.

For the first time since she arrived on Earth, Charlotte felt fear.  Her husband was here, and he was pissed.  Her children, she could take with ease, but she knew she wasn’t a match for her husband.

God lifted her off the ground by the neck with ease.  His eyes were blazing with anger.  “You dare place your hands on my children?!”

Charlotte felt the air being sucked out of her as her husband squeezed her throat.  She couldn’t’ die from lack of oxygen, not even by his hands, but as a part of her was human, she was affected by it.  Not only was it uncomfortable, but it hurt a lot. 

God through her away from his person like a ragdoll and watched as she flew into a wall, causing it to break so much that the next room was visible through it.  He really wanted to hurt her more, but his children needed him first.  Instead, he sent her to a cell in Heaven, where she would be detained until he could deal with her.

God turned to his children.  He was torn between deciding which to help first, as they were both clearly in pain.  In the end, he realized that Amenadiel was worse off, as he human at this point, so he went over and placed his hand on his forehead.  A bright light immediately ignited from his hand, and his oldest son’s injuries healed immediately.

“Father,” Amenadiel said in shock.  He didn’t actually think his prayer would work.  None of his other prayers had.

“Hold on, son.  I need to help your brother and Chloe Decker,” God said before going over to Uriel.  His son was laying on the ground in agony, clutching his arm.  “It’s going to be alright, Uriel.”

“D…Dad?” Uriel asked with both pain and fear in his voice.  He wasn’t afraid of his father, but he was afraid of what he’d seen and would find out.  He never wanted his father to know what his mother did to him.  He didn’t want him to see him as weak.

“Yes, son, I’m here.  Uriel, I need to reset your wing.  It won’t heal properly if I don’t,” God said.  Wings were complex.  They worked much like bones did for humans.  He couldn’t heal it like he would anything else.  It had to be reset first.

Uriel cringed, but nodded.  He knew this would hurt, but he knew he had no choice.

God took a hold of his son’s wing with both his hands and quickly began pushing it back into place.

Uriel screamed in agony as he felt the bone snap back to where it was supposed to be.

Maze, meanwhile, who had been in a daze until now upon the revelation of God himself, made her way over to Chloe.  “Decker, wake up.”

Amenadiel also went over.  “Chloe, can you hear us?  Wake up.”

Chloe groaned as she began to regain consciousness 

After finishing with resetting his son’s wing, he healed it along with his other injuries  “Alright, son?”

Uriel nodded and folded his wings to his back and began to get up. 

“Decker, you okay?” Maze asked.

Chloe couldn’t answer.  She could barely concentrate.  Her head was killing her, along with most other parts of her body, plus, she had in her head everything she’d just seen.  AT least what she thought she’d seen.  Could she be imagining things.

“Allow me,” God said as he approached them.

Amenadiel moved out of his father’s way.

God placed his hand on the detective’s forehead and allowed his power to once again do the job of healing her.

Chloe gasped as her injuries began to fade until nothing hurt any longer.  This man, who looked just like her partner, had healed her injuries in seconds.  It was impossible.  “Who are you?”

God smiled.  “I suspect my son has already answered that question, and I also suspect you didn’t believe him.”

Chloe shook her head.  “No, it’s not possible.”

“Decker, even you can’t deny  what just happened,” Maze said.

God shifted his gaze to the demon to his right.  “I’m afraid I can’t heal you, Mazikeen.  I imagine the result would not be favorable with our conflicting make-up.”

“Yeah, I’m good,” Maze said.  She didn’t want any healing from God anyway.  It was bad enough she was in the same room with him.  She never wanted the ‘pleasure’ of meeting Lucifer’s father.

“Where is Samael?” God asked.  Something wasn’t right.  His son’s demon was there, as was his detective, and it was his home, but he was nowhere to be found.

“You mean, Lucifer, right?” Maze asked snidely. 

“You’ll find I don’t misspeak.  Where is my son?” God demanded to know.

“Lucifer,” Chloe whispered as she continued to process this.  If this guy in front of her was really… was really God, that meant Lucifer had told her the truth the whole time.  Her partner was… the Devil.  She didn’t even know how to begin to deal with that.

“Someone had better answer me,” God said with firmness and power in his voice.  His son was missing, and God was certain that meant something happened to him.  Given what he’d witnessed, it couldn’t be good.  He was getting an answer.

“He’s in the hospital, Father.  Mom hurt him more than she did us.  I don’t know exactly what happened, but something Uriel told him made him confront her.  It ended with her beating him nearly to death,” Amenadiel said.

“He shouldn’t have done it.  I didn’t want him to do that,” Uriel said.  He felt guilty.  Lucifer went after their mother to defend him.  If he’d stayed away, it wouldn’t have happened.

“It didn’t matter, Uriel.  She was going to go after him eventually no matter what.  You heard her,  She hates him.  She wanted to hurt him.  Father, there’s something else.  She didn’t say it in so many words, but the look on her face when she talked about it made it seem like she had something to do with Lucifer’s rebellion,” Amenadiel told him

God thought about that for a moment, but then decided that it didn’t matter right now.  He couldn’t think on it more and get to the bottom of it once he knew his son was alright.  “I will deal with it when I know he’s alright.”

“The doctor’s said he’ll be fine,” Chloe stated, almost robotically.  She was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that Lucifer was the Devil, and his father, God, was kneeling right in front of her. 

“Come on, Decker, let’s get you out of here,” Maze said before helping her up. 

“Amenadiel, you go with them.  Do your best to help Detective Decker come to terms with this.  We will meet you at the hospital your brother is at.  I don’t think flying her is the best idea right now,” God said.  He motioned for Uriel to follow him before disappearing.

Uriel flew away moments later. 

“It’s okay, Chloe, come on,” Amenadiel said before going to the other side of her.

Chloe turned to Maze.  “You’re really a demon?  My roommate is a demon?”

Maze grinned as she led her out.  “Damn straight.”

 

Xxxxxxxxxxx

 

Lucifer was dreaming, or rather, he was reliving some of his less than pleasant memories while sleeping.

_Dream_

_Samael stormed from his father’s office_ angrily _.  He ran down towards his rooms, desperate to get as far away from his father as possible._

_“Samael?” a voice called out to him just as he reached his rooms._

_He turned to see that it was his mother.  “Mum.”_

_“What’s wrong, son,” she asked._

_“Father,” Samael practically spat.  “He won’t listen to me!  I took a stand!  I told him I wanted to have my own life just like you told me I should, but he won’t listen.  He says that his word is final and that I’m to do as I’m told!”_

_“He wouldn’t listen.  Well, maybe you have to make him listen,” she said._

_“I tried!  I yelled as loud as I could, and he shut me down!  What else can I do?!” Lucifer asked angrily._

_“You can find a way, my son.  Maybe you need to do more than just yell.  Sometimes you need to fight,” she said._

_Samael frowned.  “Fight?  You mean disobey?  Rebel?”_

_“Perhaps it’s the only way he’d listen.  If you can prove to him that you’re strong enough to take him on, he’d have to listen to you, right?”_

_Dream_

Lucifer tossed and turned in his hospital bed as dreams continued to plague him.  He soon felt someone shake him. 

“Lucifer?  Lucifer wake up.”

Lucifer’s eyes popped open, and he found Linda by his side.  “Doctor.”

“Yeah, I’m here, Lucifer.  Are you alright?” Linda asked.

“I’m fine,” Lucifer lied.  He was far from okay, and he didn’t think he’d ever be again.  He’d been duped, tricked into an action that changed his life forever.  He’d been tricked into betraying his father, and he’d been wrong about why he was sent to Hell.  He couldn’t believe how stupid he’d been.

“You were having a nightmare.  Was it about the attack?” Linda asked.

“No.  I’ve been beaten before, though, admittedly, not by her,” Lucifer said.

“Lucifer, your mother attacked you.  It’s okay to be hurt by that.  Anyone would be,” Linda said. 

“I deserved it, perhaps not from her, but I had it coming,” Lucifer said.

“That’s not true.  No one deserves to hurt like that,” Linda said. 

“I’m the Devil, Doctor.  I’m a worse monster than even I thought,” Lucifer said with deep despair. 

“Lucifer, I don’t know what your mother said to you, but whatever it was, you didn’t deserve it, nor the physical abuse she doled out,” Linda told him.  She recognized mental abuse when she saw it.  Lucifer’s mother had said or done something that destroyed what little self-esteem Lucifer had left. 

Lucifer shook his head.  “I betrayed my family.  I believed the worst in my father, and I can never face him again.  The only thing left that I can do is help Uriel.  Then I will return to Hell to face the punishment I deserve.”

“Lucifer…”

“I need to find my brother,’’ Lucifer said  before pulling the IV from his arm and attempting to get up. 

“Lucifer, don’t,” Linda said as she grabbed his arm.

“Don’t even think of moving from that bed,” a much stronger voice said.

Lucifer stopped in his tracks, as he recognized the voice.  He looked towards the door to see the one person he, now more than ever, hoped to never see again.  His father. 


	8. Chapter 8

Lucifer watched as his father entered the room, with Uriel right behind him.  Lucifer looked off to the side, not able to face his father.  This wasn’t how he thought it would go when saw his father again.  He’d imagined the encounter billions of times over the thousands of years since his fall.  In every single one of them, he had no trouble facing the man, and in fact planned on punching him repeatedly.  Now, he couldn’t even look at him.  How could he when he’d just learned that everything he’d believed about the man wasn’t true.  His father hadn’t turned on him.  It had been the other way around.  Lucifer had allowed lies to cause him to lose faith in his father.  He betrayed him. 

God approached his son and the doctor that was trying to keep him in his bed.  “I’ll take it from here, doctor, thank you.  Samael, back into bed.  Come on.”

Lucifer didn’t fight his father as he took him by the arm and gently began coaxing him back down onto the bed. He didn’t have that in him, either physically or emotionally.

After getting his son back into a laying position, God looked him over.  He was pretty banged up.  He had bruising on a large part of his face and arms.  Plus, there was the non-physical injuries that God noticed.  His son was wouldn’t look at him, nor did he fight him when he ordered him back into bed.  It wasn’t the reaction God was expecting, and deeply concerned him.  His son seemed beaten down emotionally, as well as physically. 

“Excuse me, but who are you?  How do you know, Lucifer?” Linda asked.  She was almost positive they were related.  Even if it wasn’t for the familial way this man spoke with and touched Lucifer, she’d believe they were related because there was a good resemblance between them.

“I’m his father,” God replied before placing his hand on his son’s forehead to get a read on all of his injuries.  He found his son wasn’t in any immediate danger, but he was likely in a lot of pain from the injuries he did suffer.

Linda wasn’t as surprised by the man’s words as she probably should be.  His actions and words reminded her of other fathers she’d encountered.  However, Lucifer’s reaction is what made it surprising, or at least it should’ve.  Lucifer spoke strongly about his hatred for his father.  He should be screaming and fighting, given the bad history between the two men.  Then again, Lucifer had said just before the man’s arrival that he’d actually betrayed his father.  Something must have changed.

Uriel made his way over and stopped at the foot of the bed.  “Are you alright, brother.”

Lucifer’s only response was to nod.

“Why’d you do it?  You should’ve stayed away from her!  You shouldn’t have confronted her,” Uriel lectured.  He knew it probably wasn’t the best time to berate his brother, but  he just…  He hadn’t wanted this.  His brother got hurt because he was defending him.

“That’s enough, Uriel.  Wait for me outside please,” God instructed.  His son meant well, but Samael didn’t need to be lectured right now. 

Uriel nodded and headed for the door.

“We will speak soon, Uriel,” God informed him.  He knew there was more to this, and it seemed Uriel had the most information.  He was going to get to the bottom of this. 

“Yes, sir,” he said before leaving the room.

God turned to his other son, laying his hand on top of his head.  “You’re very quiet, Samael, and I must tell you that that concerns me.”  In all his life, Samael had rarely been quiet.  Angry or happy, this particular child of his was always very loud.  Quiet meant that something was very wrong. 

Lucifer didn’t respond, or even turn to face his father. 

God turned to the doctor.  “Would you give us a few moments please?”  He needed to heal his son, but he didn’t want to do it in front of Doctor Martin.  One human was already in a state of extreme shock after witnessing his divinity.  He decided it was best to leave it at one for now.  The doctor would certainly have questions once his son walked out without injuries, as would many others, but it was better than witnessing the truth first hand.

Linda waited a moment to see if Lucifer would ask her to stay.  When he didn’t, she nodded and headed out of the room.

God used his power to begin healing his son.

When he realized what his father was doing, Lucifer began to fight, swatting his hands away.  He didn’t want to be healed.  He didn’t deserve it. 

“Samael,” God said in a slight warning tone.

“No!  Just leave me alone,” Lucifer finally spoke as he inched away from the man. 

“I will not leave you alone.  You are hurt,” God said.

“I’m fine.  I’ll heal on my own,” Lucifer said before turning to his left, as far away from his father’s gaze as he could get.

God sighed.  As much as he wanted to make this better, he didn’t want to heal his son by force.  The boy had already felt a parent’s force today.  He didn’t want to make that worse.  Samael was right.  He wasn’t in any danger, so he would heal on his own  “Alright, I won’t force you to let me heal you, but if you choose this route, you will stay in this hospital until you’re well again.  Is that understood?”

Lucifer nodded.

“You also need to understand that I’m not going away.  I’m going to uncover what happened to you and your brothers at the hands of your mother, and what has brought you into the mental state you’re in now,” he said.

Lucifer didn’t respond.  His simply shut his eyes.  He was exhausted.

God watched his son fall asleep before walking out of the room.  He found both his son’s, the doctor, Chloe Decker, and Mazikeen waiting.  Detective Decker’s state didn’t’ appear to have improved much, and the doctor was looking her over.  “Amenadiel.”

Amenadiel immediately went over to his father.  “Yes, Father.” 

“You mentioned earlier that you believed your mother had something to do with Samael’s fall.  I need to know what you meant by that,” God said.  He had a feeling that it had something to do with the change in his younger son’s behavior. 

“Well, I could be wrong about that.  Mom didn’t say she had anything to do with it, and it really doesn’t make much sense that she could’ve,” Amenadiel said.

“What made you think she did?” he asked.

“The way she acted when she spoke of it.  She was gloating.  She looked proud.  But maybe she was just happy that he’d fallen, that you no longer believed he was perfect.  Not that that’s much better,” Amenadiel said.

God looked through the window at his son.  “No, I think your initial belief is correct, and I think Samael knows it now.  His behavior is different.  He’s quiet and despondent.  Something happened, and it wasn’t just your mother beating him.”

“I don’t know.  I didn’t even know for sure she’d done it until I got to that house.  Before today, she acted like she loved us.  She wanted Lucifer to forgive her.  She said she wanted a relationship with us,” Amenadiel said.

“Unfortunately, son, your mother is an excellent manipulator,” God said.  He was having many regrets.  He should’ve realized that his ex-wife would manipulate his children.  He should’ve intervened when she escaped from Hell, before she had the chance to inflict harm on his children.  In his defense, he never thought it would go this far.  Despite it all, he thought she loved their children.

“You think she actually played a part in Lucifer’s rebellion?” Amenadiel asked.  He didn’t even know what to do with that.  Amenadiel had personally hated his brother for thousands of years because of his rebellion, only changing his opinion of him even slightly these last few months.  And he knew his siblings resented their brother as well.  How much of it was actually Lucifer’s fault?  How big a role did his mother actually play? 

“Yes, or she at least used the situation to her advantage, made it seem worse than it was,” God said.  He thought back to right after he’d ended his son’s rebellion.  He’d planned to handle the situation much different than he had.  He’d changed course because his wife told him that their son had expressed to her that he’d do it again, and next time would take casualties.  It never occurred to him she could be lying.  She was his mother after all.  Why would she set her own son up to take such a fall?  Believing her was a mistake God would never forgive himself for if this was true.

“Father?” Amenadiel asked after a few minutes.  His father was quiet.  He was just looking at Lucifer through the window.

“I need to find a way to reach him.  Whatever your mother told him, it has him so depressed that he barely has any life in him.  He has no fight, unless you count the fight he put up when I tried to heal him, which only makes things worse,” God said.  He was more than a little concerned.  His son was not acting like himself.  God barely recognized the son he raised.  He was tempted to take him home and deal with it there, but he wasn’t sure that would make the situation any better.

Amenadiel turned to where Chloe was with Linda.  “She would be our best bet in reaching Lucifer, but I don’t think she’s in any condition.”

God followed his son’s eyes to the detective his youngest son was so fond of.

Meanwhile, Linda stood up from her chair next to Chloe.  She’d been talking to her for a few minutes, and the woman was clearly in shock, talking about God and the Devil being real.  “Chloe, I think you probably have a concussion or something from  whatever happened with Lucifer’s mother.  I’m going to get you an actual medical doctor.”

“Yeah, if only that would help,” Chloe said in shock as the woman left.  She wished she could cling to the belief that a concussion would explain everything she’d seen today.

God walked over and took the doctor’s seat.  “Hello, Detective Decker.”

Chloe stared at him.  She opened her mouth several times to speak, but closed it each time.  She had idea what to say to… to… well, God.”

“I know you’re still very much in shock right now.  I apologize for that.  If it could’ve been helped, I would’ve refrained from you finding out that way.  Unfortunately, I think it was unavoidable the moment you learned what my ex-wife had done to my son.  You care for him too much to have ever let it slide.  And I’m glad you care so much because I need your help.  My son is suffering, and I don’t know what to do for him right now.  I need you to help me reach him,” God said.

Chloe only stared at him in disbelief.  She heard what he was saying, but her mind was still on the fact that God was sitting next to her, and in the next room, her partner, the Devil, was recovering from being beaten nearly to death.  And now God was apparently asking her to help him.

“I know this is a lot to ask given the circumstances, but my son is still your partner.  He is still the man you’ve always known him to be.”

“Lucifer.  He’s actually the Devil,” Chloe said.  She was still trying to come to terms with that fact.  Despite the fact that Lucifer had always told her that was what he was, she still couldn’t really reconcile it.  She was an atheist.  Well, she was anyway.  It was kind of heard to be an atheist when you were actually holding a conversation with God.  And then there was Lucifer.  He was the Devil, but that made no sense to her.  She couldn’t understand that no matter how many times what happened played out in her head.

God scowled.  He truly hated that name.  Even when he believed his wife’s manipulations, he hated that term.  His son was no devil.  “I have half a mind to eradicate that term from the memories of every human.  I don’t know why they call him that, nor why he insists on using it.  I’ve never seen him as such.  My son has never been anything other than my son.  He wasn’t sent to Hell because he was evil.  He was sent there because I thought he posed a danger to others, but now I believe that was nothing but a vicious lie.  The point is, my son is not what humans see him as.  I think you know that.  You know my son well.  He has never lied to you, which means that while he is technically the being spoken of in the bible, he is not as they described.  You know this because you know him.  You know what he is really like.  That is still who he is.”

Chloe thought of all her interactions with Lucifer, the good and the bad.  He was impulsive.  He often made seriously reckless and thoughtless decisions.  He made inappropriate jokes and sexual references on a daily basis.  He also saved her ass more times than she could remember.  He had her back.  He helped her solve cases every day.  He did everything he could to protect her, sometimes even excessively, such as with the car accident that he was sure wasn’t an accident.  But the biggest clue that the man next to her spoke the truth was the way Lucifer was with her daughter.  She pounced on him every time he came around, and he jumped away as if she was the scariest thing on the planet.  The Devil shied away from an eight-year-old child.  “Nothing’s changed.”

God smiled at her.  “No.  At least not in who my son is.  His behavior, however, has changed.  He’s falling apart, and for the first time, I feel helpless in figuring out what to do about it.  I need help.  Will you help my son?”

“I’ll try,” Chloe said before standing up and walking into Lucifer’s room.


	9. Chapter 9

God stood by his son’s bedside as he slept.  Chloe Decker was asleep nearby on a couch.  She’d stayed all night as he slept.  God had to admit he was impressed with the human.  She obviously cared for his son a lot.  She’d just learned the truth about him, yet it didn’t take much for her to understand that he was still the man he’d always been, and here she was by his side again.  He’d picked the right person to put in his son’s path.

Chloe groaned as she began to wake up.  For a moment after she woke up, she thought maybe the day before had all been a dream.  Of course, that was before she looked over and saw God standing by her partner’s bedside.

“Good morning.  You didn’t need to stay the night.  It couldn’t have been comfortable.  I know I asked you to help him, but there was very little you could do with him sleeping,” God said.

“I could be here for him, let him know I was here,” Chloe said as she sat up. 

“You are very good to him, Detective Decker.  I appreciate that.  He needs someone like you,” God said.

“What…?  What happened to Charlotte?  Is she dead?” Chloe asked.

God stiffened.  Just the mention of his ex-wife infuriated him.  She’d caused immense damage to his children, the extent of which he wasn’t even fully aware yet.  He intended to make her suffer.  “Her name’s not really Charlotte.  That’s just the name of the soul whose body she’s occupying.  The real Charlotte is dead.  She has been since before you even knew of her.  Now, my ex-wife is still alive for now, but she’s been detained.  I assure you, she will not harm you or my children again.”

Lucifer began to groan in his sleep from obvious nightmares.

God began running a hand through his son’s hair in an attempt to soothe him.  He decided not to try to wake him now.  If his son could sleep more, he wanted him to.  He did, however, take the nightmare away.  “Shh.  You’re alright now, son.  Rest.”

Chloe watched as God comforted Lucifer.  He didn’t seem like Lucifer described him to be.  He was attentive to Lucifer.  He comforted him the exact same way that she and Dan would Trixie if she was hurt or having nightmares.  It was very clear that God loved his son.  So what had happened?  Why had God kicked out his own son?  Why did Lucifer hate his father so much?  She already knew the stories told in the Bible were false.  God had pretty much said that much.  What was the real story?

“You can ask?” God said as he continued to run his hand through his son’s hair. 

“Did you hear my thoughts or was it just that obvious?” Chloe wondered.

God smiled at her.  “Yes.  I can hear the thoughts of anyone I choose, but I could tell what you were thinking about.  Go ahead and ask.”

“It’s not my business,” Chloe said.  She did want to know, but she didn’t want to intrude.  It wasn’t her place, and Lucifer might not want her knowing. 

“The truth was just sprung on you, and I’ve asked you to help my son.  Of course, you deserve to know,” he said. 

“Why’d you kick him out?” Chloe asked.

God looked back down at his son as he slept.  “Samael was different than my other children.  He was willful.  He questioned.”

Chloe almost jumped down his throat at that moment.  Being willful was hardly a reason to throw out your own child.  If it were, every kid in the world would be homeless.  Kids disobeyed.  It was natural.  However, Chloe managed to keep from berating God.  She decided it was best to listen before she judged.

“I actually secretly liked that.  No one had ever challenged me the way he did.  I enjoyed it.  I know I wasn’t supposed to, and I did my best not to show it, but I did favor him.  As time went on, he became more rebellious.  I suppose it was when he hit the equivalent of a teenager.  He questioned more.  He demanded to make his own decisions.  I told him no.  He was my son and he was going to do as I commanded.  It wasn’t for the reason he thought though.  I wouldn’t give into him because he wasn’t ready for it.  He was still just a boy, and I didn’t think he could appreciate the consequences that came with free will,” God explained.

Chloe nodded.  She could see that line of thinking.  Teenagers felt that they were ready to make their own decisions, but they were just kids.  They still needed a lot of guidance.  But that didn’t mean Lucifer deserved to be sent to Hell.

“He chose to fight me further.  He organized a rebellion with a few of his siblings.  I put a stop to it fairly quickly, though I was still angry at even an attempt to fight me in such a way.  There was no question that I had to punish him,” God said.

“By sending him to Hell?” Chloe asked.  Now she was judging him.  She’d sent his teenage son to Hell because he acted out.  That was terrible.  It was child abandonment.

“No.  That was never going to happen.  Sending him to Hell was not a punishment, and it wasn’t what I originally intended.”

“What was then?” Chloe asked.

God thought back to all those millenniums ago, right after his son had taken challenging him to a completely different level.

 

_Flashback_

_God was sitting in his study with his wife.  It was about a day after he’d put a stop to Samael’s rebellion.  Needless to say, he was not in the best mood.  He was angry at his son’s severe act of defiance.  It proved that he was right.  Samael was not ready for the free will he craved so much._

_“You have to do something, Husband.  You can’t just let it go,” his wife told him._

_“I’m aware of that,” God said in a slightly irritated tone.  He didn’t need to be told that something had to be done.  He needed to make his son understand that this sort of disobedience would not be tolerated, and that it was not going to get him what he wanted._

_“He’s bringing others into his schemes.  You need to take a hard stand,” the Goddess said._

_“I am going to speak to him.  I will make him understand that he’s not ready for what he’s asking for,” God said._

_“You can’t just speak to him.  You have to take action.”_

_God glared at her.  “I don’t need you to tell me what I have to do, Wife.  I know he must be punished.”_

_“It’s not as if I want to see him punished, but he’s becoming a problem.  He’s brought the other children into it.  He must be dealt with harshly, and I feel that your judgment might be clouded.  We both know you favor Samael,” the Goddess said._

_“What are you suggesting?” God asked.  Currently, he wasn’t sure what he should do, so he was willing to listen to ideas._

_The Goddess walked over and began rubbing her husband’s shoulders.  “This is only the beginning, dear.  It will only get worse.  I may that there may be nothing that can be done to reign him in.  You have to consider that destroying him is the only way to stop him._

_God saw red in that moment.  He jumped up and took his wife by the upper arms, shaking her hard.  “What did you say?  How dare you suggest that I murder our son?  How can you even consider such a thing?!  How can you want your own son dead?!”_

_“Of…  Of course I don’t want it.  But things are becoming worse with him.”_

_“Not so bad that I would kill him!  He could never do anything that bad!” God screamed._

_“Even hurting the other children?” she asked._

_“What are you talking about?” God asked, finally releasing her._

_“As we speak, he’s plotting another rebellion, this time he plans to take lives.  He wants a war.  He will do whatever he can to get what he wants.  He will kill for it,” the Goddess said._

_“He has said this?_

_She nodded._

_God put his head in his hands.  He had to do something.  He couldn’t allow one of his children to become a danger to the others.  But killing him was out of the question.  God would rather die than lay a finger on his children.  “I will not kill my own son.”_

_“Then you at least have to send him away.”_

_Flashback_

Chloe became sick to her stomach as she listened to God’s story.  It was clear to her that what his wife told him was probably not true, given what she’d just done to her kids.  This woman, or Goddess, had plotted her son’s death.  What kind of mother could do that?  Chloe was a mother.  She would de everything in her power to protect Trixie from anyone that might try to hurt her.  Lucifer’s mother actually wanted him dead.  She lied and manipulated to try to have him killed.  “Oh, this is so sick.  How can any mother do that?”

“I’m fairly certain you’re not meant to understand, Detective Decker,” God said.

“You sent Lucifer to Hell to protect your other children.  Did you ever ask him if it was true?” Chloe asked.

God shook his head sadly.  “I was a coward.  I couldn’t bring myself to even talk to him.  Every instinct was telling me I shouldn’t do it, and for that reason, I couldn’t face my own son.  There is nothing I will ever regret more than that day.”

Lucifer began groaning again, this time he opened his eyes.

“Hey, Lucifer.  How are you doing?” Chloe asked.

“Hello, Detective,” Lucifer said before turning to the side and seeing his father.

“Hello, my son.  I’m glad to see you’re awake, and you seem to be doing slightly better than yesterday, though you would be even better if you allowed me to help,” God said.

Lucifer looked back to the detective, trying to determine if she knew the truth, given that she was in the same room with his father.  Still, he could’ve just shown up and announced he was his father without going into the God thing.  Given that the detective didn’t seem frightened at all as she stood next to him, he assumed she didn’t know.

“Are you doing better, Lucifer?  Do you feel any better?” Chloe asked.

Lucifer shrugged. 

“You know, I’ve always wished for you to be a little quieter in the past.  Now that you actually are, it’s kind of disturbing,” Chloe said after a couple of minutes of silence.  She now understood what God was worried about when he said he needed her help to reach him.  He wasn’t acting like himself, though that wasn’t surprising given what he’d been through. 

Lucifer didn’t respond.

Chloe turned to God.  “Would you mind if I talked to him alone?”

“No, of course not.  I need to go find and speak with Uriel anyway,” God said before gently taking his son by the chin and turning him towards him, though his son still avoided his eyes.  “Listen to me for a moment, Samael.  I love you.  I’m not going anywhere.  I’ll be here when you’re ready to talk.”

Lucifer immediately started pulling away.  He only wished that he could turn his hearing off.  He didn’t want to here his father say he loved him.  It was a lie.  It had to be.  How could he love him after what he did?

God sighed and released his son.  “I will see you later.  I promise, no one will hurt you again,” he said before heading for the door. 

 


	10. Chapter 10

Uriel was sitting on a bench outside the hospital.  He was avoiding his father.  He was busy trying to help Lucifer, much to Uriel’s relief, but he knew his father’s attention would be on him.  He already told him that they had to talk.  He was going to have to explain to his father that his mother had been beating him for centuries before he kicked her out, which meant Uriel was ultimately responsible for what happened to his brothers.  He wasn’t looking forward to that, so he made himself scarce.  He knew it wouldn’t work for long though.  One couldn’t outrun God.

As if on cue, Uriel watched as his father approached and sat down next to him.  Uriel immediately averted his eyes.

“You typically only try to hide from me when you think I’ll be angry with you.  I can’t fathom why you’d think I’d be angry with you now though,” God said to his son. 

“Is Lucifer okay?” Uriel asked, dodging his father’s comment. 

“I don’t know.  He’s not himself right now.  The damage your mother did to him seems to go much further than beating him,” God said with some anger in his voice.  He was going to make his ex pay for the damage she’d caused his children, and it wasn’t just Samael.  He could see the pain in Uriel’s eyes right now, and he was sure Amenadiel wasn’t unaffected by the beating he took either. 

“So, is it true then?  That she did something to him before you sent him away?  She was responsible for it?” Uriel asked.  He was there when Amenadiel mentioned it.  He hoped it wasn’t true.  He couldn’t bear knowing he’d caused that.

“Yes.  I’m nearly a hundred percent positive that she at the very least used the situation for her own means.  She wanted him gone,” God said quietly. 

Uriel closed his eyes, and couldn’t stop the tears from streaming from his eyes.  The guilt seeped through every part of his body.  This was all his fault.  If he’d told the truth, it never would’ve happened.  Lucifer… no, Samael, would never have been sent to Hell.  He wouldn’t’ be suffering now.

God put his hand on the back of his son’s neck and rubbed it comfortingly.  “It’s alright, son.  Your brother will be okay.  It may take a while, but I will make sure he makes it through this.”

“It’s m…my fault,” Uriel cried.

“Shh.  Don’t be ridiculous, son.  It is not your fault,” God told him softly.

“It is, Dad.  I let her hurt him.  I didn’t stop her.  I could have.  He didn’t have to fall.  If I’d told the truth, I could’ve protected him,” Uriel said.

“What truth?” God asked.  Unfortunately, he had a feeling he knew the answer. 

“Sh…she was already beating me when he fell.  She had been for a while.  Anytime she had the chance, she’d tear me apart.  She told me if I said anything, she’d hurt me worse.  She also said that it wouldn’t matter because you would say I deserved it for being weak,” Uriel cried.

God barely kept it together.  Despite wanting scream or cry for the pain his son had endured, he knew he needed to be strong for Uriel.  He’d had a feeling his ex-wife had hit Uriel before, but he didn’t know it went on for centuries.  He should have known something was going on.  He should have stopped his wife from doing such damage to his children.  How many others were there?  How many of his children had been so brutally abused by their mother?

“I was weak.  I should’ve fought her.  I didn’t even try to stop her,” Uriel said, tears streaming down his face.

God took him firmly by the chin and turned his head towards him.  “Listen to me, son.  You are not weak!  She was your mother, and she was much stronger than you.”

“I’m sorry, Dad,” Uriel cried.

“No, my son.  I am the one who must apologize.  I should’ve known something was wrong.  I should’ve noticed that your mother was hurting you.  I’m sorry, Uriel, and I’m sorry I left you with the impression that you couldn’t come to me.  You need to understand that nothing that has happened is because of you,” God said firmly.

“But Lucifer and Amenadiel…”

“What happened to your brothers is the fault of your mother’s, and partially mine,” God said.  He wouldn’t absolve himself of guilt.  He should’ve known, and he shouldn’t have just taken his wife’s word when she was trying to hurt Samael.  She’d caused at least three of her children harm, and he’d helped her do it. 

Uriel cried harder.

“It’s going to be alright, son.  We will all get through this as a family.  Your mother will not harm any of you ever again,” he promised as he pulled his son into his arms and held him tightly as he kept crying. 

 

Xxxxxxxxxxx

 

Chloe sat by Lucifer’s bedside.  She was becoming increasingly more worried about him.  In the last twenty minutes she’d been alone with him, he hadn’t said much.  He stuck to one- or two-word answers whenever she asked him something.  That was if he couldn’t get away with nodding or shaking his head.  She could definitely understand why God, and that was still weird to think about, was worried about him.  “Lucifer, you’re really starting to scare me.”

“Sorry,” was all Lucifer could say to that.

“Well, that’s not really helping.  Lucifer, you’ll barely speak to me.  You won’t even look at your father,” Chloe said.

“Don’t talk about him, please,” Lucifer pleaded. 

“He’s worried about you.  Your dad loves you,” Chloe said.  Nothing was clearer to her than that.  Well, other than the fact that her partner was in more turmoil than she’d ever seen.  Lucifer’s father loved him as much as she loved her own child.  She could see the desperation in his eyes when he asked her to help his son.

“No, he can’t,” Lucifer said.  He was a horrible son.  He’d been terrible to his father, and he wasn’t even just talking about rebelling.  That was bad enough, but he’d been terrible even afterwards.  He couldn’t count how many times he’d screamed at the top of his lungs about what a terrible father the man was, and how much he hated him.

“Why?  Why can’t your dad love you?  I promise you, Lucifer, he does.  He’s barely left your side,” Chloe said.

Lucifer looked away in response. 

“Please talk to me.  I want to help you,” Chloe said.

“You can’t,” Lucifer said.  No one could help him, and more to the point, he didn’t deserve to be helped.  He deserved to suffer.  He deserved to be punished.  He ought to be back in Hell. 

Chloe sighed.  “I can’t imagine what you’re going through right now.  What your mother did to you was terrible.  You were abused, Lucifer, and that is awful.”

“No, I wasn’t.  This is the first time she ever beat me.  Uriel was abused.  She was hurting him for centuries,” Lucifer told her.  He half expected the eye roll she usually gave him when he spoke about being the Devil or immortal, but it never came.  The detective continued to look sad. 

“You don’t have to beat your kid up to abuse them.  There are many other ways to abuse someone.  Your mother did abuse you, Lucifer.  I’m looking at the affects of it right now,” Chloe said.

“She hated me,” Lucifer mumbled, mainly to himself.  If there was ever proof that no one could love him, it was that.  His own mother hated him.  She’d said she hadn’t had much use for the majority of his siblings, but that particularly loathed him. 

Chloe sighed.  Her partner was falling apart because of the terrible treatment he’d received from his mother.  Not only had his mother abused him, but she’d done it in such a way that he’d questioned even his father’s love for him.  And how she had him feeling so worthless that the man he was seemed gone.  “Some people shouldn’t have kids.  Some people can’t appreciate the gifts that their children are.  Apparently, goddesses are included in that too.”

Lucifer stared at her wide-eyes.  When he saw the detective with his father, he thought she might know the truth, but he’d dismissed it because she wasn’t afraid of him.  However, her last comment indicated that she did know.  “You know?”

Chloe nodded.  “It was kind of hard to deny when God appeared right in front of me.”  She decided to omit that he’d also healed her.  That would just make him worry, and possibly make him feel guilty.

“Why aren’t you afraid?” Lucifer asked.

“Oh, I’m afraid.  When I look at you like this, I’m terrified for you.  I’m afraid of what this is doing to you.  But I’m not afraid of you.  Why should I be?  You’ve never given me a reason to fear you,” Chloe said.  Even when she first found out, she wasn’t afraid of him.  She was just freaked out.  She was still freaked out at times, but she was handling it, so she could help Lucifer.

“I’m the Devil.  I’m a monster,” Lucifer said in a tone that made it clear that that alone should make her terrified of him. 

“You are not a monster.  You were a kid who got sent away because his father was manipulated by a horrible woman.  After that, it was just a series of false information spread around by people who knew nothing about the situation,” Chloe said.

Lucifer was surprised by how much the detective knew, but he deduced that his father must have figured out at least some of what his mother did, and told the detective about it.  “It was my fault.  I betrayed my father.”

“That’s not true.”

“Yes, it is.  I listened to my mother.  I defied my father, started a war.  Then I made him the bad guy when he’d done nothing wrong.  I’m a terrible son.  I’m a terrible person.  I belong in Hell,” Lucifer said near tears.

“Lucifer, no.”

“I do.  I will go back and take the punishment I have coming,” he said.

“Your father’s not going to send you back to Hell,” Chloe assured him.  She was certain of that.  God didn’t blame his son for anything.  He was worried about Lucifer.  He wanted to get him through this, not punish him further.

“Then I’ll send myself.  I may not have my wings anymore, but there are other ways.  Maze’s blade will do, or any weapon will if you’re around,” Lucifer said.  He didn’t deserve to live anyway.  If he killed himself, he’d go straight back to Hell, where he belonged.

“Lucifer, don’t say that!” Chloe exclaimed.  Her eyes were wide in fear.  If she thought she was worried before, she was practically shaking with fright now.  Lucifer just out and out said he’d kill himself if that was what it took.  She knew he was in bad shape, but she never imagined it was that bad. 

“Just leave me alone, detective.  I’m tired,” Lucifer said before turning away from her.

Chloe stood there for a minute before leaving the room.  She didn’t’ want to leave him alone, especially not now, but she didn’t have the ability to help him. 

Chloe walked outside and found Linda and Maze there.  “Either of you seen Lucifer’s father?”

“No, thankfully,” Maze said.

“Is everything okay, Chloe?” Linda asked.

“Linda, would you sit with Lucifer?  I need to find his dad,” Chloe said.

“Of course.  Is Lucifer alright?” Linda asked.

“No, he’s not.  Just don’t let him out of your sight until I or his father get back,” Chloe said seriously before walking away.

 


	11. Chapter 11

God was walking back through the hospital to go check on how things were going with Samael.  After speaking with Uriel, his boy had asked for time to himself, so God decided to see how things were with his other suffering child. 

God got about half way to his son’s room when he ran into Chloe Decker.  “Ah, Detective Decker.  I was just on my way to check on your progress with my son.”

“It’s non-existent.  He’s worse than we thought,” Chloe said.

“Tell me,” God demanded. 

“He’s completely broken.  I’ve never seen him this beaten down.  What your wife did has him feeling so low about himself that he wants to return to Hell, or at least feels like he deserves to,” Chloe said.

“That won’t happen,” God said in a firm tone.

“Yeah, I told him that.  I told him that there was no way you’d send him back there.  He said he would send himself if he had to.  He’s talking about killing himself,” Chloe said frightfully.

“Hold on.  Did he actually say he’d harm himself, or are you deducing that from his talk about sending himself back to Hell?” God asked.  Either way, it was very troubling, but he wanted to be sure of exactly what his son was thinking before he acted.

“No, he said it.  He talked about using one of Maze’s knives, or using something else when I’m around.  I don’t know what the last part meant,” Chloe said. 

“It’s unimportant right now.  Is he alone?” God asked in alarm.  His son being alone in this condition was not a good thing.  He could try to hurt himself right now. 

“No, I wouldn’t leave him alone.  I asked his psychiatrist to sit with him while I went to find you.  What will happen to him if he dies?  Will he really go to Hell?” Chloe asked.

“Well, he certainly assumes so, but no.  I won’t allow it,” God said before walking again.  “Angels aren’t much different than humans if they die.  Humans typically go where they feel they deserve to be.  I make exceptions for those who don’t have a conscience.  Angels would be the same, however, I will not let Samael go to Hell.  He will never see the inside of that place again.”

Chloe nodded, feeling only slightly better.  Her partner still wanted to end his life, and she couldn’t let that happen.  “He still wants to kill himself.  We can’t let him.”

“Oh, rest assured, I have no intention of letting it happen.  However, stopping him is going to require actions from me that he won’t particularly like,” God said just before they reached Lucifer’s room.

Chloe noticed Linda, Maze, and now Amenadiel, outside his room.  “Linda, I thought you were going to stay with Lucifer.”

“Relax, Chloe, I was with him until just a few minutes ago.  The doctor’s examining him, so I had to leave,” Linda said.

“What’s going on?  What’s wrong with Lucifer?” Amenadiel asked.  He knew his brother was having problems.  His father had said he wasn’t acting like himself, but this seemed worse.  Chloe seemed very concerned about him being left alone.

“A lot, my son,” God said.

The doctor came out a second later.  “Hi, are any of you Mr. Morningstar’s family?”

“Yes, I am his father,” God said before turning to the others.  “Will one of you go sit with him.  I don’t want him alone.”

“Yeah, I will,” Chloe said before walking into Lucifer’s room.

“What’s the problem, Doctor.  Feel free to speak openly.  Everyone here has a vested interest in my son’s recovery,” God said.

“Sure.  I’m concerned about your son’s mental state.  He seems very depressed, and a patient’s mood often has an impact on his recovery.  Your son isn’t recovering nearly as well as I’d hoped at this point.  It’s not uncommon for those who have been the victims of violent crimes, but it is troubling.  Another troubling factor is that he isn’t eating.  I’m worried he may be a danger to himself,” the doctor explained.

“Oh god,” Linda said in worry.

Maze snorted slightly at her friend’s choice of words.

“Sir, if your son doesn’t come out of this state soon, I’m afraid you may have to start making some difficult decisions,” the doctor said.

“Yes, I believe we’re already at that point.  I assure you, I will do whatever it takes to help my son,” God said.

“I’m glad to hear it.  As he’s already under the care of a psychiatrist, I’ll leave it to her to help you with that,” the doctor said before walking away.

“It can’t really be that bad,” Maze said.  They were talking like Lucifer was suicidal.  That couldn’t be right.  She’d known him for centuries, and he’d never once considered such a thing.  Why would he now?  Because his mother was a bitch?  Why would that make him like that?

“I think it is.  He doesn’t seem to have any fight in him.  If he doesn’t improve, he’s going to have be kept on a psych hold,” Linda said sadly.

“Father, what are you going to do?” Amenadiel asked.  He knew his father was not going to leave this in the care of humans.  Humans wouldn’t even begin to know how to help Lucifer.  They certainly couldn’t contain him if he was indeed a threat to himself.

“Something your brother will undoubtedly hate,” God said before walking into his son’s room.

Amenadiel followed his father.  They both immediately heard Lucifer and Chloe.

“Lucifer, we want to help you.  We’re worried about you,” Chloe said.

“I’m fine.  Just leave me alone,” Lucifer said.

“I think not, my son, not anytime soon,” God said as he approached his son. 

Lucifer groaned and looked away.  More people had hounded him in the last few days then in thousands of years.  He just wanted everyone to leave him alone.  He wasn’t sure why they cared anyway.  He didn’t deserve it.

“Samael, I’m hearing things that have me very concerned.  Your doctor tells me you won’t eat,” God said.

“I don’t need to,” Lucifer said quietly.

“You don’t need it to sustain you, but it does help you keep your strength, which you do need right now.  I’m also hearing that you want to hurt yourself.  Is that true?” God asked.

Amenadiel looked between his father and brother in horror.  He’d heard what the doctor said, but not his brother had actually spoke about hurting himself, though that would explain why Chloe asked was concerned that Linda wasn’t sitting with him anymore.

Lucifer’s gaze shot over to the detective, whom he gave a betrayed look.

“Don’t look at me like that, Lucifer.  You had to know I’d say something.  I care about you.  I’m not gonna stand by while you try to kill yourself.  If that means telling your dad, so be it,” Chloe said firmly.  She was sorry he felt betrayed, but she wasn’t sorry for telling God the truth.  He was the only one who might be able to stop him.

“Look at me, son,” God said softly.

Lucifer wouldn’t.  He simply turned his head away from everyone.

God wasn’t having it this time.  He took his son under the chin and turned him towards him.  The second he did, he was confronted by the pain in his eyes.  He hadn’t seen that since Samael was a child.  The biggest incident God could recall was when his son crashed during flight training.  The boy had looked up at him with pain filled eyes, silently begging him to fix it.  Unfortunately, he couldn’t fix this like he had that.  “Oh, my boy.  I’m so sorry.  I know it hurts awfully.  I’m sorry I can’t just flick my wrist to make it go away this time.  I would if I could.”

Lucifer tried to pull away, but his father’s grip was as strong as ever.

“You’re not going to Hell, Samael.  Not by my hand, and not by death, even if I allowed that to happen.  You will never see that place again.  But it doesn’t matter because I will not allow you to hurt yourself.  To that end, I’m afraid I’ve come to a decision that you’re not going to like very much,” God said.

Lucifer stopped trying to pull out of his father’s grip.  He stared right at him, suddenly very interested in what the man had to say.  At this point, he didn’t think there was much his father could say that would make him more miserable than he already was, but his father’s words seemed to promise otherwise.

“I hope I’m wrong.  I hope that my decision is something you want, but I feel that it’s not.  I’m taking you home,” God said.  He hadn’t wanted to do it this way.  He wanted his son home, of course, but he didn’t want to do it against his will.  Unfortunately, since their very first conversation in this room, he had a feeling it was going to come to that.

That had all three of the other occupants of the room looking at him in surprise.  Amenadiel knew he shouldn’t be surprised.  Lucifer was bad off.  His father was going to need him close in order to keep him safe.  He supposed it was more shocking to him since he never imagined this happening before this stuff with their mother started.  He also couldn’t deny being a little jealous that Lucifer got to go back, since Amenadiel still wasn’t sure he would be allowed.  He wanted to talk to his father about why his powers were taken, but there hadn’t really been time.

Chloe was shocked as well, and a bit worried.  She didn’t want Lucifer to leave.  He was her partner.  He’d become a part of her life.  She didn’t want to lose him.  She supposed though that she should think more about Lucifer.  Maybe this was best for him.  He would be surrounded by his family.  Still, she was scared she’d never see him again.

Lucifer’s eyes went wide.  “No.”

“Yes,” God said in a slightly firm tone.

“Why?  I don’t belong there,” Lucifer said.

“I decide that.  You will always have a place by my side.  And right now, that is exactly where you need to be.  I need you where I can keep an eye on you.  I need to know you’re safe.  So, you’re going to come home,” God said.

“I don’t want to,” Lucifer said in a miserable tone.  Not only did he feel like he didn’t deserve to return to Heaven, but he knew he wouldn’t be welcome.  His brothers and sisters didn’t want him invading their home.  They hated him. 

God let go of his son’s chin and began stroking his hair.  He hated that his son was so miserable, and that God’s decision only seemed to be making it worse, but he had to make sure his child was protected.  “I know you don’t, but I’m afraid it’s not up to you.  You can’t keep yourself safe right now.  I need to do that for you.  I need you by my side until I’m certain you can look after yourself again.  It won’t be so bad.  It is your home after all, and you’ll be surrounded by your family.  We will get you through this.

Lucifer sighed in defeat.  He didn’t even have it in him to try to fight this, like he would’ve if it happened a few days ago.  He had no fight left in him.  He didn’t even have the energy to fight.  “When?”

“Soon.  I have a couple of things to take care of first.  Then I will heal your injuries and take you home,” God said.  One thing he needed to take care of was his ex-wife.  He would not ask his children to return home with her there.  As it was, he hated leaving her there with his other children.  If he’d had anywhere else he thought could contain her until he was able to deal with her, he would’ve.  Even Hell hadn’t kept her forever, which was why he knew that simple containment wasn’t an option. 

“I don’t want to be healed,” he said. 

“No, you don’t feel you deserve to be healed, and I disagree.  Furthermore, you’re not healing properly the hard way because of your state of mind and your refusal to eat.  I’m not going to leave you suffering.  The only reason I don’t heal you right now is because I think having your human friends come at you with a spontaneous recovery would be even worse for you,” God explained.

“Can I be alone now?” Lucifer asked miserably.  He’d had enough.  His life had just been taken completely out of his hands, and he wanted to be alone to deal with it.

“No, I’m sorry, but you can’t.  However, I will leave you with Amenadiel for a while.  He won’t bother you if you want quiet, but he will not leave the room until I return,” God said firmly.

Amenadiel nodded that he’d stay. 

God turned to his oldest son.  “I haven’t forgotten you, Amenadiel.  I know we haven’t spoken much about you yet, but I promise we will.  We may just have to wait until we get home for it.”

Amenadiel looked up with both surprise and hope.  It sounded like he would be able to return home with his father and brothers.  “Yes, Father.”

God headed out of the room.

Chloe hurried to catch up with him.  The hallway was now empty.  Linda and Maze must have gone off somewhere for the moment.  “Do you really have to take him?”

“I’m afraid I do, Detective.  If I could stay here with him, I would, but I have other children, and I don’t know yet what my ex-wife might have done to them.  I can’t keep my head in the sand any longer,” God said.

Chloe nodded.  She understood.  He was just trying to be a good father.  He was trying to protect his son from himself, but he also had to take care of his other kids.  She just didn’t want to lose Lucifer.

“I am hesitant though, and not just because my son feels more at home on Earth.  Even I’m not so blind that I can’t see the impact you have on my son.  He cares for you deeply, and I believe you have a good chance of helping him,” God said.

“I don’t seem to be doing much now,” Chloe said.

“That’s because the damage is too extensive for one person to heal, or for it to be done all at once.  With all my power, even I can’t just fix the problem,” God said.  He wasn’t unaffected by that.  He wished with everything he had that he could heal his son, but he couldn’t.  It was very rare for him to feel so helpless, and he was not a fan of it.  “But as I said, I do think you can help a great deal.  For that reason, I have a request, and feel completely free to say no because I know how much I’m asking.  I would not judge you for saying no,” God said.

Chloe nodded for him to go ahead and ask.  If there was anything she could do to help Lucifer, she would.

“I’m wondering if you’d be willing to come with us,” God said.

Chloe was pretty sure her jaw dropped to the floor with how wide her mouth dropped open.  “To H…Heaven?  Is that even possible while I’m still alive?”

God smiled.  “Anything is possible if I deem it so.”

After a few minutes of shock, Chloe shook her head.  She wanted to help Lucifer, but she couldn’t this way.  She couldn’t disappear from the planet for an uncertain amount of time.  “I can’t.  I have a child too.  I can’t leave her for that long.”

“If that’s your decision, I can certainly understand it, but just allow me to assure you it wouldn’t be for that long,” God said.

“You said yourself that it’s going to take time for Lucifer to heal.  It would probably be months at the least.  That might not be long for you, but it’s forever for humans.  That’s time I’d never be able to get back.  I’d do it if it were just me, but I can’t abandon my child for that long,” Chloe said.

“I would never consider asking you to.  You see, Detective, things work differently in Heaven than they do here.  Time is much different.  It would be a while for you, but merely a few days for your child.  Also, in case you’re wondering, you won’t age in Heaven,” he told her.

“So, you’re saying that people would barely know I’m gone?” Chloe asked. 

“Indeed.  It would be maybe a week or two here, as opposed to several months,” God said.

Chloe still wasn’t sure.  Trixie might not feel her absence for long, but Chloe would.  She wasn’t sure she could be away from her child for so long.  On the other hand, she wasn’t sure she could stay on Earth and think about what Lucifer was going through when she knew she could be helping him.  “Can I think about this?”

“Yes, of course.  As I said, I have things I need to take care of before I bring Samael home.  Take your time,” he said before walking away.


	12. Chapter 12

Chloe was in her apartment waiting for Dan to arrive with Trixie. She’d decided to take a break from the hospital. Amenadiel was with Lucifer right now, so he wasn’t alone. She’d needed time to think about God’s request for her to go to Heaven. Then she needed to talk to Trixie about it. 

Chloe had pretty much come to her decision. Well, sort of. She needed to make sure Trixie was okay with it, and that Dan could handle things, but so long as that worked out, she was going. Lucifer was her friend. She wanted to be there to help him. She knew if she didn’t go, she would regret it. She would miss Trixie, but she at least knew her daughter wouldn’t miss her too much. For her, it wouldn’t be long at all.

Chloe soon heard the door open. Trixie ran in seconds later with Dan right behind her.

“Mommy,” Trixie said before running to her mother.

Chloe hugged her briefly. “Hey, Monkey. Did you have a good time with Daddy?”

“Is Lucifer okay? Daddy said he got hurt,” She had been worried about Lucifer. He was her friend, and she wanted to know that he was okay.

“Actually, I want to talk to you about Lucifer. Go put your stuff away and then we’ll talk,” Chloe said.

Trixie nodded and headed for her room.

“I had to tell her about Lucifer. She knew something was wrong when I picked her up and it wasn’t my normal day. She was afraid you were hurt,” Dan said. 

“I was going to have to tell her about it anyway. Thanks for taking her last minute. In fact, I may have to have you do it again for longer,” Chloe said.

“I expected you’d want a few more days. I was actually surprised when you called to have me bring Trixie home. I figured you’d either want to be at the hospital, or working on finding Lucifer’s mother,” Dan said. He was kind of surprised Chloe hadn’t been working on the latter more, but he chalked it up to her needing to be there for her partner at the moment. 

“I’m going to hand the case over. I can’t be objective,” Chloe said. It wasn’t exactly a lie, but it wasn’t the truth either. She was sure she wouldn’t be able to be objective if Lucifer’s attacker had been human, but she was handing it over both so she could go with Lucifer, and because she knew the case would go nowhere. Charlotte was in God’s hands now, and he was likely going to kill her. Normally, Chloe would have a problem with that, but there didn’t seem to be any other way to stop her from doing further damage. Besides, if there was anyone who had the right to decide who had the right to make such a judgement call, it was God.

“Wow. I’m glad you can tell that. I worried you wouldn’t be able to be objective, but I didn’t want to say it,” Dan said.

Chloe nodded. “Anyway, Lucifer’s not doing too great. Without going into details, he’s having a hard time dealing with his mother’s abuse,” Chloe told him.

“That’s completely understandable. I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t have a hard time with that,” Dan said. While Lucifer seemed untouchable most of the time emotionally, no one could remain so after being viciously beaten by their own mother. “Has he given you any information to help us find his mother?” 

“He hasn’t spoken much about it. I have some information that I’ll report later,” Chloe said. She would have to give her colleagues something. More than likely, she would come forward with Charlotte’s name. They would never find her, so it wouldn’t be a big deal. “Anyway, the rest of Lucifer’s family has gotten involved. His father had no idea what his wife was doing to his kids. He’s decided to take Lucifer home for a while,” Chloe said.

Dan frowned in confusion. “Didn’t his father kick him out?”

“It’s complicated. Lucifer’s mother instigated a lot of it. Anyway, I may go with them, and I’ll be out of touch if I do. It’s far away, and in the middle of nowhere,” Chloe said.

“How long are we talking about?” Dan asked, not liking this at all.

“Not long. Maybe three weeks at the most,” Chloe said. She didn’t think it would be quite that long, but she decided to add a bit of time to be sure.

“Three weeks with no contact? Are you crazy? What am I supposed to tell Trixie?” Dan asked.

“Obviously, I’m going to talk to her about this before anything is decided. She will know what I’m doing,” Chloe said.

“But you’ll be away from her for almost a month. Is that really fair to her?” Dan asked.

Chloe glared at him. “You don’t want to go there with me, Dan. How many times have you bailed on our daughter because you found something better to do? Was that fair?”

Just then, Trixie came back into the room and saw her parents looking angry at each other. “Are you guys fighting?

Chloe turned to her daughter. “No, honey. Daddy has to leave. Go give him a hug.”

Trixie ran over and hugged her father. 

“I’ll see you soon, Monkey. Chloe, call me,” Dan said before walking out of the apartment.

“Let’s go sit on the couch, sweetheart. We’ve got some stuff to talk about,” Chloe said before leading her daughter to the couch.

“Is Lucifer okay?” Trixie asked again once they were both seated.

“His injuries are healing, but he’s not doing too good in other ways. He’s really sad right now,” Chloe said.

“Because he’s hurt? I’m sad when I’m hurt too,” Trixie said.

“Yeah, but it’s different for Lucifer. The person who hurt him was someone he thought loved him. That hurts even worse, and he found out she hurt him in other ways a long time again. It has left him very upset,”

“Will he be okay?” Trixie asked.

“I think he will be with some help. He’s going to be leaving for a while. His family’s going to take him home,” Chloe said.

Trixie gasped. “He’s not going to Hell, is he?”

Chloe was shocked by the question, but realized seconds later that she shouldn’t be. Of course, her daughter had realized the truth. She was too smart not to. “You always knew Lucifer was telling the truth about who he was, didn’t you?” Chloe asked.

“Of course. Lucifer doesn’t lie, Mommy,” Trixie said as if it were obvious.

“You’re right, Monkey. No, Lucifer’s not going to Hell. He’s going to Heaven with his dad and siblings. They think they can help him. But you know that Lucifer and I are good friends. I think that I might be able to help him to, so I was thinking of going with them,” Chloe said.

Trixie’s eyes widened in fear. “No, Mommy! People don’t come back from Heaven! You can’t leave me!”

“No, baby. It wouldn’t be like that,” Chloe quickly assured her. Most people who go to Heaven die. I wouldn’t. I’d just be visiting. It normally isn’t allowed, but God is making a special exception. I promise, I would come back.”

Trixie calmed down a little bit. “How long would you be gone?”

“It wouldn’t be any longer than three weeks,” she promised.

“That’s a long time, Mommy!” Trixie exclaimed.

“Baby, I’m only going to go if you’re okay with it,” Chloe told her. She wanted to help Lucifer, but her daughter had to come first. She couldn’t leave if her daughter felt like she was being abandoned.

Trixie wanted to say that she wasn’t okay with it, so that her mother wouldn’t go, but she didn’t want to hurt Lucifer. He was already hurt, and he was her friend. She wanted to help him get better too. She knew she was too little to help, but her mom wasn’t. Maybe the best way she could help her friend was by letting him borrow her mommy. “It’s okay, Mommy. I want you to help Lucifer.”

Chloe pulled her daughter into her arms. “Thank you, baby. I’m really proud of you.”

“Can I see Lucifer before you go? I wanna say goodbye,” Trixie said.

“I don’t know, Trixie. Lucifer is really sad right now. I think seeing him might make you sad,” Chloe said.

“Please? I’ll be okay, Mommy. I wanna see Lucifer. Maybe I can make him feel better,” Trixie said.

Chloe was very reluctant. Lucifer was pretty beaten down right now, and she worried that he would unintentionally say something that would upset Trixie. That would just hurt both of them, because for all of Lucifer’s claims that he hated children, Chloe knew he did not hate Trixie. It would only make him feel worse if he did something that might upset her. On the other hand, maybe Trixie could make him feel a little better. Her daughter had an amazing way of making people feel better when they were down. “Okay, we’ll go down there tomorrow, and I’ll ask Lucifer, but if says no, you have to accept that. He may not want you to see him that way.”

“Okay,” Trixie said.

“Alright, go get ready for bed. It’s almost time,” Chloe said. 

Trixie nodded and got up to leave the room.


	13. Chapter 13

God spent the next several days speaking with his children about their mother. Well, it was days by Heaven’s standards. He hadn’t even been away from Earth for a full day yet. It took him days because he had many children, and he wanted to take his time to make sure they all felt comfortable speaking with him on such a sensitive subject. So far, none of them seemed to have suffered the same sort of abuse that Uriel, Samael, or Amenadiel had, but many expressed uneasiness around her, and they had become even more uneasy when God had brought her back and then disappeared. He regretted the of need for that. He didn’t want his ex-wife around any of them, but he hadn’t known anything else to do with her at that moment.

God was sitting in his office, and then heard a knock. “Come in.”

The door opened, and Azrael stepped through. “You called for me.”

Azrael walked further inside and shut the door. 

“Yes. I apologize for keeping you from your duties, but I’m afraid we must talk. Sit down,” 

“Is this about Mom,” Azrael asked as she sat down. She knew her mother had returned. She felt her presence the moment she entered the Silver City. She couldn’t deny being frightened by it. 

“Yes, it is. First, I assure you, she won’t be here much longer,” God said.

Azrael sighed in relief. She was terrified of her mother. Uriel didn’t know it, but she knew what their mother had done to him. She saw him one day after coming out of a private ‘conversation’ with her. She never told Uriel about it because she knew he would feel ashamed if anyone knew. 

God could see the relief in his daughter’s eyes as plain as day. “Azrael, has your mother ever harmed you?”

From that one question alone, Azrael deduced that her father had found out that her mother had hurt one of them, as he had never asked that question before. She first assumed it was Uriel, but for all she knew, there had been others as well. “No.”

“You can tell me if she has, my dear. I promise, she will not get the chance to harm any of you again. You don’t need to be afraid to tell me the truth,” God said gently.

“She didn’t, Dad. But I did see her hurt Uriel once. I was going to tell you, but it was right before you sent her away. I figured that since she was gone…”

“There was no reason for me to know,” God finished for her. While that logic was more than a bit flawed, he understood it.

Azrael nodded. “Uriel didn’t seem to want anyone to know. I’m sorry. I probably should have told you.”

God sighed. “I wish you had, but I understand why you didn’t. You wanted to protect your brother’s privacy.”

“I don’t understand why she did it. Why would Mom hurt her own son?” Azrael asked. She’d struggled with it since she saw it happen. She didn’t understand what could’ve made her mother so angry. 

“You’re not meant to understand it, Child. I’d be very concerned if you did. I can’t explain it to you either because I don’t understand it either,” God said sadly.

“Are you sending her back to Hell?” Azrael asked.

“No. She’s already escaped from there once. The damage she’s done is too severe to risk it again,” God said.

“Are you going to kill her?” Azrael asked. If not Hell, that seemed to be the only other punishment her father. Could inflict on her mother. Azrael honestly wasn’t as bothered by the prospect as she should be. She loved her mother once, but that slowly dissipated after finding out about Uriel. Plus, she wasn’t particularly close to her mother before then. Honestly, she’d feel some relief that her mother was gone, as she wouldn’t be able to hurt anyone anymore. Of course, the fact that Azrael didn’t feel much for her mother’s probable death made her feel guilty. 

God cringed. It wasn’t the first time he was asked that question since he returned, and it was no easier to answer this time. No matter what his ex-wife had done to his children, she was still their mother, and he couldn’t expect them to feel nothing for her. “I have few choices, Azrael. I can’t allow her to hurt any of you again.” 

“She did something else, didn’t she? Did she hurt Uriel again?” Azrael asked.

“Your mother caused significant damage to Uriel, Amenadiel, and Samael,” God said.

Azrael’s eyes widened in worry for her siblings. “Are they okay?”

“Physically, yes, but Samael is suffering in other ways. He’s having a terrible time coping. To that end, I will be bringing him home as soon as I’ve taken care of things here,” God said.

Azrael was surprised to hear that. She didn’t think she’d see the day when Lucifer would be allowed to return home, or when he’d agree to do so. She hadn’t seen him since he was kicked out, but she knew he was angry, and would likely balk from coming home. Of course, if he was as bad off as her father said, she could see him forcing Lucifer to return home. “He is? For good?”

“If that’s what he wants, he’s welcome to, but no, he probably won’t. He will, however, be staying until I’m certain he’s okay. Now, I’ve certain I don’t need to say this to you, but he will be treated with the same respect as everyone else,” God said firmly. Azrael was always close with Samael, so he didn’t really feel saying this was necessary, but he was saying the same to everyone. He would not have his son treated badly. He was going through enough already.

“Of course. I wouldn’t think of treating him any other way,” Azrael said.

God smiled. “I know, but I’m saying the same to everyone. Your brother can’t handle a lot of tension right now.”

“He’s really that bad?” Azrael asked in surprise. That was unfathomable to her. She’d never known her favorite older brother to be so bad off. He handled tension with ease. He would normally be able to give as good as he got. 

God nodded. “Yes, but we will be here to help him through it. Now, there are a few others I need to speak with.” 

Azrael nodded and stood up. “I should get back to work.”

“Do come home when you can, my dear,” God said.

“I will,” she said before heading to the door. She stopped and turned back at the last minute. “Dad, there’s one more thing. I think Uriel took my blade.”

“What? Your blade is missing?”

Azrael nodded and ducked her head. “It went missing right after I spoke to Uriel. I know I should’ve told you.”

“You certainly should have. You know how dangerous that thing is, Azrael. You don’t even know for certain that Uriel has it. You should’ve come to me the second you noticed it was missing,” God admonished sternly.

“I’m sorry, Dad,” Azrael said meekly.

God sighed. “I will get the blade back, but I will be keeping it someplace safe for a while, until you learn to be more responsible with it. When something like that goes missing, I expect to be notified.” He wasn’t all that upset that she lost it. It happened sometimes. He was upset because she knew she should’ve come to him immediately.

“I understand,” she said dejectedly before heading out of the room. 

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

 

God entered his quarters a few hours later. He’d spoken to almost everyone by now. There was only really one ha hadn’t gotten the chance to speak to. For some reason, his son was making himself scarce, which made him fear the answer he’d get when he found this particular child of his. He could find him right away and speak to him if he wanted, but it was best to wait until he was ready to talk.

It turned out that God didn’t have to wait long. As soon as he entered his quarters, he realized he wasn’t alone. He turned the corner into the living room and got a glimpse of his missing son sitting on the floor leaned against the couch. “Michael?”

A young man with curly black hair and brown eyes turned and looked at him, distress and fear laced in his eyes. “Don’t let her come back! Please!”

God’s heart broke for his second eldest, and clearly another victim of his wife’s abuse. He was so scared, and God had not seen fear from Michael since he was a child. “She’s not coming back, Michael. She will be gone before the end of the night.”

“You swear?”

“Yes,” God said before walking over and gently pulling his son up by the arm. He then guided him onto the couch before sitting himself and pulling the boy into his arms. “I’m sorry, son. I simply had no place else to put her where I could be sure she wouldn’t escape. But she will be gone soon.”

Michael just laid in his father’s arms for a while. It had been a long time since he allowed himself to just let go and allow his father to hold him like that, but he couldn’t get enough of it right now. “She hurt me.”

God rubbed his son’s back and said nothing. Michael would tell him what happened at his own pace.

“Uriel wasn’t the only one to figure out that she was trying to destroy humanity. I found out and confronted her about it. I said I’d tell you if she didn’t stop. I thought she would. Instead, she was furious. She beat me so badly that I couldn’t move,” Michael said.

God closed his eyes sadly and strengthened his old on the boy. The damage just kept getting worse. He couldn’t believe he’d been so blind. This had all been happening right underneath his nose. Three of his children were viciously abused in one way or another, and he’d helped it happen by not seeing it.

“She healed anything that was visible and told me it would be worse if I even thought of telling you. I still almost told you. She showed up when I was doing it. She made good on her threat,” Michael said with a shiver.

“I’m sorry, my son. She’ll never touch you again. She’ll never even get near you again,” he swore.

“I’m sorry, Dad. I was a coward. I should’ve told you,” Michael cried.

“Nonesense! You were attacked for trying to do what was right. Of course, you were frightened. She was your mother. She was supposed to protect you. I’m so sorry, my son. I was blind. I chose not to see this, and that was a mistake. I promise, she will never have the chance to hurt you or your siblings again,” God vowed.

Michael turned to look at his father. “She hurt the others?”

“A few of them, but It has happened for the last time. I will ensure my children’s safety, and I will do what must be done to help you all,” he said.

“You’re going to kill her, aren’t you? I’m glad,” Michael said. He felt no remorse for wanting his mother dead. As far as he was concerned, he didn’t even have a mother. Mothers weren’t supposed to hurt their kids.

“It will all be alright, Michael. We will get through this,” God said.

Michael nodded and stood up, attempting to compose himself. He felt a little ashamed of appearing so weak just now. He knew his father didn’t see it that way, but he did. He was an angel. He was meant to be strong. “Do you need me to do anything?”

“Yes. Stay here until I’ve handled things,” God said. He knew Michael wouldn’t say it, but he was still frightened. He would feel safer in God’s quarters until his mother was gone. Once that’s done, I will be leaving for a short while. While I’m gone, I’d like you to make sure every weapon is locked up.”

“Why? Do you suspect another threat?” Michael asked.

“Not to anyone but himself. I’m bringing Samael home,” God said. 

Michael’s mouth dropped open in disbelief. Those were words he never thought he’d ever hear. “Why?”

God’s eyes turned just slightly stern. “Besides the fact that this is his home and he has every right to be here, you mean? I told you that you were not the only your mother abused.”

“She was hurting him too?”

“Not in the same way as you, but, yes. She’s done significant damage to him. As such, he needs help dealing with it. He’s coming home, and I expect you to be kind. I won’t have you lashing out at him,” God said firmly. He knew that the relationship between Michael and Samael had been rather strained the last time they met. Actually, Samael’s relationship with all of his siblings had. 

Michael reluctantly nodded. He and his brother weren’t on the best of terms, but if his father was bringing him home, it had to be bad, as he knew Samael wouldn’t return willingly. Another clue that his brother wasn’t in the best shape was that his father had stated that he was afraid he’d hurt himself. That sounded really bad. Michael certainly didn’t want to add to that. Despite it all, he couldn’t deny caring for his brother.

“Good,” God said before standing up. “I will be back soon. Wait here.”

 

Xxxxxxxxxxx

 

Charlotte paced her cell anxiously. She knew she was screwed. Her husband had caught her in the act of abusing their children. He had been livid. He was not going to be merciful. She had no doubt that she would, at the very least, find herself back in Hell soon enough. It would probably even be worse.

Charlotte knew she had to get out of there before her husband returned. She tried to escape, but the cell was impenetrable. She’d even tried calling for one of her children, but the ungrateful brats ignored her. As always, they took her husband’s side. “Little bastards! You would think they’d show their mother some loyalty.”

“Loyalty isn’t rewarded through abuse.”

Charlotte stiffened, recognizing her husband’s voice instantly. She turned to him, noticing immediately that his fury had only increased since he pulled her off of Uriel.

God entered the cell, waving his hand behind him to close and lock it. “Tell me, did you ever love them?”

At this point, Charlotte decided that she might as well tell the truth. She had nothing left to lose. “No. Most of them were nothing but little nuisances. I tolerated most of them. A few of them I even liked. Amenadiel, even Michael until he thought he could turn on me. But I didn’t love them. I didn’t want them. They are nothing but lower beings, just like your pathetic humans, except for the occasional one here and there.”

“You should’ve left. You should’ve walked away instead of believing you could hurt my children and not pay for it!” God snarled.

“They deserved it, especially your favorite. How is he by the way? I imagine I didn’t kill him, unfortunately, but I know I left an impression on him,” Charlotte said with an evil smirk.

God knew she was trying to bait him. He wouldn’t allow it, even if he was tempted to end her right there. He would get to that, but he wasn’t done with her yet. “My children will be fine. They will survive the brutality you’ve inflicted upon them, and they will know you’ll never get the chance to touch them again.”

“Because their powerful father is there to protect them? Too bad you weren’t there when they needed you. In fact, you hurt one of them yourself. Poor, Lucifer, or actually, you still see him s Samael, don’t you? Do you know yet that it was my idea for him to rebel? He wasn’t going to. I put the idea into his head, just as I lied about you about him wanting to kill his siblings. It was my greatest triumph. And all the while, I had Uriel as my punching bag,” she goaded. She knew it was stupid, but she also knew that nothing was going to save her. She might as well tell all.

This time, God did lose it. He slammed her against the wall and pulled her up by the throat. He hadn’t known the whole truth about Samael. That and the reminder of what she did to him and Uriel sent him over the edge. “You will never harm my children again. You will never hurt anyone again.”

“At least make it a fair fight,” Charlotte said. He’d cut her off from her power right before putting her in the cell. She couldn’t access any of it. Not that it would do a lot of good. Because she was in a human, she was already low on power. Angels she could take, but not God himself.

“Certainly. I will give you the same fairness you gave my children. Uriel, Michael, Samael, and Amenadiel weren’t given any fairness as you brutally beat them. Samael wasn’t given any fairness as you manipulated him and lied about him, as you eventually decimated his self-worth. Why should I give you any? Consider a semi-painless death the only fairness you’ll receive from me!” God said icily. He then raised his free hand and watched as the life was drained from his ex-wife, listening as she screamed briefly.


	14. Chapter 14

Chloe walked with Trixie towards Lucifer’s room. She was also carrying two bags, one with her stuff and one with Lucifer’s. She didn’t know when God would return ready to leave, but she figured it would be soon, probably before the end of the day. He’d been gone since yesterday, which meant it would’ve been at least longer in Heaven. It was best to be prepared for when he was ready.

“Okay, Monkey, remember what we talked about. I’ll see if Lucifer is up to seeing you, but if he says no, we’re going to respect his wishes,” Chloe said firmly.

Trixie nodded. “If he says no, will you give him my ‘get well’ card?”

“Of course, I will,” Chloe said. As she got close to Lucifer’s room, she noticed, Maze, Amenadiel, and Linda outside. They were clearly all fighting. She immediately directed her daughter over to a couple of chairs nearby. She was close enough that Chloe would be able to see her from right outside Lucifer’s room, but hopefully far enough away that she wouldn’t hear a whole lot of the fighting. “Sit here for a few minutes. I’ll be right back,” Chloe said before putting her bags down and going over to the group.

“Back off, Maze. You have no say in this,” Amenadiel said.

“The hell I don’t! I am the only one who has had his back through everything you people have thrown at him! I’m not about to let you just drag him back to that damned place!” Maze yelled.

“It’s his home! We’re his family!” Amenadiel exploded.

“Yeah, the family that abandoned him. You were read to send him back to Hell until recently!”

“Hey! Stop it!” Chloe said angrily as soon as she got close. “Lucifer is right in the next room. Do you really think he needs this? Who is with him anyway?” Chloe asked.

“Uriel,” Amenadiel said.

“These assholes think they’re taking Lucifer away,” Maze said angrily.

“They’re trying to save his life, Maze. Lucifer told me he plans to kill himself,” Chloe said.

“If that’s true, he belongs in a hospital,” Linda said.

“If he were anyone else, I’d agree, but a hospital can’t hold Lucifer,” Chloe said.

“You agree with them, Decker? Why, because Lucifer wants to go back to Hell? What’s so wrong with that?” Maze asked in a dangerous tone.

“Maze, I don’t think now is the time for metaphors. We’re talking about his life,” Linda said.  
“Maze, Lucifer does not want to go back. He thinks he deserves to. He’s trying to punish himself,” Chloe said.

“And you think he wants to go with these dicks?” Maze asked.

“No, I know he doesn’t, but they are the only ones who can help him,” Chloe said. She then turned to check on her daughter, only to find that she wasn’t where she left her. “Trixie.”

 

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

Meanwhile, Lucifer woke up to the sound of yelling. He could hear the sounds of Maze and Amenadiel’s voices. He clearly heard his name a few times, and quickly deduced what they were talking about.

“You okay, brother?” Uriel asked.

Lucifer just looked towards the door, where he continued to hear yelling.

“I’ll go make them stop,” Uriel said.

“Don’t bother. They won’t stop. Apparently, everyone gets to decide what’s best for me, but me,” Lucifer said. There was a bit of bitterness in his voice, and quite a lot of despair.

“That’s because what you think is best involves sending yourself back to Hell,” Uriel said. He was sent reeling a bit when he found out his brother wanted to kill himself, mostly because he blamed himself for what happened to Lucifer. It wouldn’t have happened if he told the truth centuries ago.

“It’s where I belong,” Lucifer said. He then heard the door open, and turned in time to see the detective’s offspring walk in. “Child, what are you doing here? Where’s your mother?”

“Hi, Lucifer. She’s outside yelling at everyone for fighting. I was supposed to wait for Mommy to ask you if it was okay if I came in, but I thought you might be sad because of everyone fighting, and I wanted to see if you were okay,” Trixie said as she walked over.

“I’ll be alright, Child,” Lucifer said.

“I made this for you,” Trixie said before handing him the card she made.

Lucifer looked at the colorful paper. It had the words ‘get well’ on it, as well as some drawings of what he supposed were supposed to be people.

“That’s you and Mommy, since she’s gonna be with you to help you get better,” Trixie said.

“What?” Lucifer asked in confusion. That made no sense to him. The detective wouldn’t be with him. He was being forced to go back to the Silver City. She wouldn’t be with him.

Just then, Chloe walked in. “Trixie, what did I tell you?”

“It’s alright, Detective. She’s done no harm,” Lucifer said. 

“Mommy says you feel really sad, Lucifer. She says you have to go away to feel better,” Trixie said.

“So I’m told. I don’t want to,” Lucifer said. He didn’t know why he was saying this to the child. She couldn’t do anything about it. 

“You don’t wanna go or you don’t wanna feel better?” Trixie asked.

“Either,” Lucifer answered.

“Sometimes I don’t like going places, like to the doctor’s or school, but I have to because it’ll help me, even if it doesn’t seem like it. You’ve gotta go because it’ll help you. I’ll miss you though,” Trixie said before reaching over and hugging him around the middle.

Lucifer stood there shocked. It wasn’t like the child had never hugged him before, but this time was different. He felt like a monster. He couldn’t understand why anyone would wish to hug him, especially a child.

Trixie pulled away after a minute. “Promise me you’ll get better.”

“I…I don’t think I can do that,” Lucifer said.

“Can you promise you’ll try?” Trixie asked. 

Lucifer didn’t want to do that either. He would have to follow through if he did. He never went back on his word. However, he also didn’t want to disappoint the child by refusing. “I…I suppose I can promise to attempt it.”

Chloe smiled, because she knew Lucifer would try now. He would not break a promise. “Okay, kiddo, it’s time to go. Daddy should be here soon to pick you up.”

“Are you leaving now?” Trixie asked.

Feeling another presence, Chloe turned to see God in the doorway. “Yeah, pretty soon.”

Lucifer was very confused. Where was the detective going that she would be leaving her offspring, and why?

“I’ll miss you,” Trixie said before hugging her mother. 

Chloe hugged her daughter back tightly. “I’ll miss you too, Monkey.”

Trixie moved towards the door and stopped in front of the man in the doorway. “Are you Lucifer’s daddy.”

God knelt down in front of the child and smiled. “Indeed, I am, little one.”

“You’ll take care of him, right?”

“You have my word,” he promised.

“Come on, baby. I’ll be right back,” Chloe told the others before leading her way out of the room.

God walked forward into the room. “Uriel, have you taken something that isn’t yours?”

Uriel almost said no, not knowing what his father was talking about. Then he remembered Azrael’s blade, and nodded.

“You know how dangerous that blade is, and you also know that it was entrusted to Azrael. You had no business touching it,” God said sternly. He had a good idea of why his son had taken the blade, and he didn’t want to berate his son too much, as he knew he was desperate, but he couldn’t completely let it go. 

“I’m sorry, Dad,” Uriel said quietly.

“I found it in a storage facility. What if someone had gotten their hands on it? You know the affect it has on humans.”

“That’s my fault,” Lucifer spoke up, causing his father and brother to bring their attention to him. “I took it from Uriel and gave it to Maze. I didn’t think she’d put it where she did. I told her to ensure that humans couldn’t get to it.”

God sighed. “It wasn’t very wise to give it to a demon either. I realize you trust Mazikeen, but you don’t know what kind of affect it might have had one her. I don’t even know that.”

Lucifer looked down dejectedly. Of course, he should’ve thought of that. He was an idiot. He simply couldn’t stop screwing up.

“No, no. There will be none of that,” God said before taking him by the chin and turning him towards him. “Mistakes happen, Samael. I know you were looking out for your brother, and Uriel, I know you were desperate to protect yourself from your mother. However, you both need to be more careful in the future. And no more taking things that don’t belong to you, Uriel.”

“Yes, sir,” Uriel said. 

“Alright, I believe we should get ready to leave,” God said.

“Father, please,” Lucifer begged. He really didn’t want to go.

“Why don’t you want to go home, Samael? What are you so afraid of?” God asked.

“I don’t belong there,” he said.

“We’ve been over this. I decide who belongs there. You always will,” God said.

“Everyone hates me. I know I deserve it, but…”

“That is not true. No one hates you, and you do not deserve it,” God said firmly. He couldn’t deny that there were those that had been angry, but he did not believe that a single one of his children hated their brother.

“I’m a monster,” Lucifer said.

God leaned down, so that he was looking his son directly in the eye. “You are not a monster. Even with your mother’s lies, I have never considered you so, and never will. I never want to hear you use that word to describe yourself again. Is that understood?”

“But…”

“No, Samael. You will never be a monster. I will not hear of it again,” he said firmly.

“I don’t want to go, Dad,” Lucifer said miserably.

God stood up straight. “I’m sorry, my son, but you don’t have a choice. I’ll not leave you with the chance to hurt yourself. You need to come home with me.”

Chloe came back in at that moment, carrying two bags. “Lucifer, I brought you some clothes to change into, as well as some you might need in Heaven.”

“What’s in the other bag?” Lucifer wondered.

“That’s my stuff. You can’t expect me to leave the galaxy without some clothes and other essentials,” Chloe said with a smirk.

Lucifer’s mouth dropped open. “You…. You can’t be coming.”

“She can if I allow it, which I will,” God said.

“But your child,” Lucifer said.

“From what I’ve been told, I’ll only be gone a few weeks here. Trixie will be okay with Dan until then. He’s already come and got her. I’m going with you, Lucifer. You’re my partner. We get through things like this together,” Chloe said firmly.

Lucifer couldn’t deny feeling just slightly better after hearing that. If he had to go, at least the detective would be with him. “Thank you, Detective.”

“Okay, son, why don’t you change? Can you make it to the bathroom without assistance?” God asked.

Lucifer nodded and pulled himself out of bed. As soon as he stood all the way up, he began to fall.

God steadied him before he could fall. “I have you. You need to take it easy, son. I’ll heal you as soon as we get home. I was going to do it before, but I decided it would be better to walk out of the hospital first, as to not draw suspicion from your friends.”

Lucifer nodded before taking the bag of his things from Chloe. He then slowly walked to the bathroom. He then quickly changed into some clothes. Well, as quickly as he could in his condition. Then he walked back out. 

“Ready?” God asked.

“It doesn’t really matter if I say no, does it?” Lucifer asked.

“I’m afraid not, my boy. Come,” God said before taking the duffle bag from his son and leading him out of the room by the shoulder. Uriel and Chloe followed.

The others were waiting when they made it outside. Ella had also joined the group.

“Are you ready to go, Amenadiel? Unless you’d like to stay,” God said.

“Yeah, he gets a choice,” Lucifer muttered bitterly.

“His choice doesn’t involve hurting himself,” God said.

“No, Father, I want to come home,” Amenadiel said.

“Excellent. Let’s go then,” God said.

“Lucifer, I can see you don’t want to go. You don’t have to,” Linda said.

“Yes, Doctor Martin, he does,” God said firmly.

“Your son needs help,” Linda argued. 

“I agree with you, but not in the way you want to do it. He needs to be at home. He needs peace. He isn’t going to get it here,” God said.

Maze, meanwhile, glared at Lucifer. “You’re not gonna even try to fight, are you? So much for being the Devil. You’re pathetic!”

“Maze!” Chloe exclaimed. 

“That’s enough! You’ve just proven my point, Mazikeen. My son will never receive the help he needs here. I’ll not have you degrading him and making him feel worse!” God said firmly. 

Ella walked over and hugged Lucifer. “I can’t say I think this is the right thing, but I do hope it helps you get back to the Lucifer we all love.”

“Thank you, Miss Lopez,” Lucifer said as he pulled away.

“Lucifer, if you’re going to do this, at least call me if you need to,” Linda said.

“I’m afraid that won’t be possible, Doctor,” Lucifer said.

“I think we should go now,” God said before leading the way down the hall. The others quickly followed.


	15. Chapter 15

The next thing Lucifer knew after leaving the hospital was arriving at his father’s quarters in the Silver City. He looked around briefly. It had actually changed quite a bit since he last saw it. His father had apparently decided to redecorate with more modern furniture.

Chloe was a bit unsteady on her feet as they landed, unused to this kind of travel. She wobbled a little on her feet. “Whoa!”

“Detective, are you okay?” Lucifer asked concerned.

“Yeah, I think I was just caught a little off guard,” Chloe asked. She looked around at her surroundings. She seemed to be in a normal looking living room. Well, normal was sort of an understatement. It was quite huge. She could probably fit her whole apartment in the living room with space left over. However, considering that they were in Heaven, it seemed both ordinary and small. She expected it to at least be the size of Earth. “This is Heaven.”

The others laughed. Even Lucifer managed a half smile. “Oh, my dear, this is merely a small corner of it. These are my quarters,” God said.

Chloe gaped. The place suddenly seemed much larger with God’s last words. This one place looked the size of at least a couple of the largest mansions she’d ever seen, and it was just described as ‘a small corner’. 

“I’ve provided you accommodations within these rooms. You’ll be free to roam around the City, but I would suggest not leaving these rooms alone the first several times. It will be almost impossible not to get lost,” God said.

“I feel like I could get lost in here alone,” Chloe mumbled.

“I don’t suppose I have the same freedoms,” Lucifer said.

“Uriel, Amenadiel, how about you show Detective Decker around my quarters. Her room will be across from Samael’s. Take your brother’s bag to his room as well please.

They both nodded. Uriel took the duffle bag from his father’s hands.

“One more thing, Detective Decker. I can only anticipate the urge you’ll have to seek out your deceased loved ones. I highly advise you to think twice. It isn’t healthy to dwell on what you’ve lost,” God said.

Chloe nodded that she understood what he was saying. She then followed Uriel and Amenadiel out of the room. 

God placed his hand on his remaining son’s shoulder and led him to the couch. “Come sit, Samael.”

Lucifer followed his father’s lead and sat down on the couch. 

“Alright. I’m going to heal you and then we’ll have a small talk,” God said before leaning over and placing his hand on his son’s forehead.

“I don’t want to be healed,” Lucifer mumbled, but he didn’t make any move to fight his father.

God ignored his son’s comment and continued to heal him. He let go after a few moments. “There we are. Feel better?” God asked. 

Lucifer only shrugged in response.

God sat next to his son and squeezed his shoulder comfortingly. “We’ll work on that, son. We’ll get you there. Now, there are a few things we need to talk about. To answer your question from earlier, no, you do not have the freedom to roam around. You’re not to   
leave these quarters without permission, nor without someone with you. Now, should you wish to take a walk or something, you need only tell me. I’d be happy to go with you, and so would many others. Do you understand?”

“Yeah. Essentially, I’m to do what you say when you say, right, Father?” Lucifer asked bitterly, repeating almost the same exact words his father had told him eons earlier. Of course, once they crossed his lips, Lucifer regretted them. What right did he have to complain? He’d started a war and then turned his back on his father because of his mother’s manipulations. He’d done enough damage. “Sorry.”

God rubbed his back. “You have no reason to be sorry. I don’t expect you to be happy about this. However, unfortunately, that is exactly how things are right now. I need to be sure you’re safe. To that end, I’m afraid you’re not going to have much privacy for a while. Now, I won’t corner you every second, but I will be watching you frequently. There will be no closed doors between us, and I am to know where you are at all times. Is that clear?”

Lucifer nodded, but refused to look at his father. 

“I have alarms set up to let me know if you’re hurt. I would prefer not to need them though, which is why I’ll be watching you so closely. Now, I know you probably won’t believe this right now, but this is not a punishment. I am trying to keep you safe,” God said. 

“May I go lay down now?” Lucifer asked.

“Yes, of course. I’m sure you’re still very tired. I know sleep hasn’t come easily for you lately. But remember what I said, Samael. No closed doors,” God reminded him firmly.

Lucifer nodded before getting up and heading down the hall.

Soon, Amenadiel came back out. “Father.”

“Hello, my son. Come sit. I know we need to talk,” God said.

Amenadiel wasted no time in moving to his father’s side and sitting down.

“I thank you for being so patient with me these last few days. It can’t have been easy. I know you’ve wanted to talk,” God said.

“It’s okay. I know Lucifer and Uriel needed you more,” Amenadiel said.

“You have my complete attention now. How are you holding up, Amenadiel? Finding out your mother had harmed your siblings, and then being subjected to it yourself, could not have been easy,” God said.

“I don’t know. It was really strange seeing her like that. She was so cold. She didn’t care at all about hurting us. She seemed to hate Lucifer and Uriel. She said she liked me, but it was like she was talking about some acquaintance she met a few times, instead of her own son. She had no concern at all for us,” Amenadiel said. It had really shaken him, which was something he didn’t think was possible. His own mother had no caring whatsoever for him or his siblings. She would destroy all of them if she thought it would help her. She claimed to love them and want to know them, but that was clearly a lie to get something from them.

God squeezed his son’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, my son, but do not carry the blame for it. It isn’t your fault. She never knew what she had. She should’ve felt privileged to be your parent. I always have.”

“Then why did you ignore me for so long?” Amenadiel asked. He’d prayed to his father many times since he lost his powers, and he never received any answer.

God sighed. “That was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made, but I felt that it would be better if I let you be for a while.”

“Because you were disappointed in me?” Amenadiel asked miserably.

God shook his head. “I have never been disappointed in you, Amenadiel. In your choices, perhaps, but not in you. And your choices during that time certainly left a lot to be desired.”

“I know,” Amenadiel said quietly.

“Son, tell my why you took it upon yourself to go after Samael in the first place,” God said. 

“Because I that you would want me bring him back to Hell,” Amenadiel said. 

“Did I say I wanted that?” God asked.

Amenadiel shook his head. “No, but you sent him there. I assumed…”

“Yes, and that’s the problem. Too often, you assume you know what I want. You’ve become a bit cocky, and that trait led you to believe that it was alright to bully your brother, and later to try to kill him. And no matter what you might have thought I wanted, I know you cannot possibly have thought that I would be okay with you harming your brother,” God said in a cool tone.

Amenadiel looked down in shame. “I guess I got desperate. I wanted to please you, and I thought Lucifer being back in Hell would.”

“Samael being in Hell never pleased me, but to the point, you did not have to go behind my back to harm your brother in order to please me. In fact, I don’t know how you could possibly some extravagant deed,” God told him.

“I’m sorry, Father. I get why you’ve been punishing me,” Amenadiel said sadly.

“I haven’t punished you, Amenadiel. You punished yourself. You lost your powers because you no longer felt you deserved them. And that’s why I didn’t answer you. I couldn’t return your powers because you would just lose them again. Yes, I could’ve explained that to you, but I wanted you to come to understand what you’d done wrong to lose them on your own. I also thought that some time with your brother would remind you that he is your brother, and you ought to be there for him, not try to hurt him,” God explained.

Amenadiel looked at his father in disbelief. This was not what he was expecting. He never thought he could lose his powers just by feeling unworthy. “You didn’t punish me?”

“No, though I certainly would’ve if you hadn’t already been punishing yourself,” God said firmly. What his eldest had done warranted punishment. He’d tried to kill his brother. However, Amenadiel was successful enough at punishing himself. 

“Will I get my powers back?” Amenadiel asked.

“Yes, of course. You just need to feel like you deserve them again. It will happen. It has likely already started by you realizing your mistakes. Just give it time,” God said.

“I’m sorry, Father.”

“I know. I forgive you. Have you said it to your brother though?” God asked.

Amenadiel shook his head. “I will.”

“I insist on it, though wait a little bit. I’d like you to think out clearly what you’d like to say. I don’t think either of us wants him to think you’re doing it just to get your powers back,” God said.

Amenadiel nodded.

“You should get some rest, son. You haven’t gotten a lot of sleep lately. You’re more than welcome to stay here. Your room is just as it was the last time you were in it,” God said.

Amenadiel nodded and stood up and headed out of the room.


	16. Chapter 16

Lucifer woke in his room at his father’s. Each of them had rooms inside his father’s personal quarters, as well as their own living space outside of it. Needless to say, his father’s space was actually quite big.

Lucifer was surprised to see that little had changed about his room. The bed had been updated to something more modern and more comfortable, but everything else remained as he left it. He figured his father would’ve redecorated, maybe changed it into something else entirely. Lucifer wouldn’t have blamed him for wanting to forget all about him. 

Lucifer soon felt a presence in the doorway. He turned to see his father there.

“Morning, son. I’m glad to see you awake. You were out all day and night. I was growing concerned,” God said.

“I’m fine,” Lucifer mumbled.

“I’m glad. I gather you slept well?” God asked.

“I guess,” Lucifer said. He had to admit it had been easier to sleep here than it had when he was in the hospital. He wouldn’t exactly call it a peaceful sleep, but it was better, and there were no nightmares, at least not last night. 

“I’m glad to hear it. How about you get dressed and come down to breakfast?” God asked.

“I’m not hungry,” Lucifer said. 

“You may not be, Samael, but you need to eat,” he said.

Lucifer immediately went to argue that point, but stopped as his father raised his hand to stop him.

“You do, Samael. With Detective Decker here, you’re vulnerable to human weaknesses, and that includes malnutrition and starvation,” God said. The fact that Chloe Decker made his son vulnerable made him pause a bit before inviting her to join them. His son already wanted to hurt himself. The detective being around made that easier. However, God also knew how close his son was to her. She might make him vulnerable, but she also made him strong. She made him happy and gave him a reason to keep going. He needed that right now.

Lucifer couldn’t deny that his father was right. Right now, he had no desire to eat, but his stomach felt empty and in need of food. “Why does she make me vulnerable?”

God hesitated. That was a question he was going to need to answer one day, but he didn’t think now was the right time. “We will talk about that some other time.”

“Why?” Lucifer asked with some annoyance in his voice.

“Because I don’t think you’re ready for the answer right now. But there is no reason to be concerned about it. It is nothing bad. It’s just complicated, and something I don’t think you can understand properly right now,” God explained. His son had enough on his mind right now. The situation with how Chloe Decker came to exist was too much for him right now. “Will you come eat please?”

Lucifer could tell that his father was putting an end to the subject. While it annoyed him, Lucifer didn’t want to argue about it. It wasn’t like he’d win anyway. “You’re not really giving me a choice, are you?”

“No, son, I’m not. I’ll see you in a few minutes,” God said firmly before leaving the room.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxx

 

About ten minutes later, Lucifer was sitting in the dining room with his father, Amenadiel, Uriel, and the detective. Despite the fact that angels didn’t technically need to eat, many enjoyed it. So did his father, so they were all eating. In Lucifer’s case, under duress, and barely touching his food.

“Samael, please eat,” God said.

“I told you, I’m not hungry,” Lucifer said.

“Come on, Lucifer. You promised Trixie to try to help yourself, remember?” Chloe asked. Yes, she knew she was using the promise he’d made her daughter to get him to take care of herself. She’d do whatever it took to get him to take the first steps into helping himself

Lucifer scowled as he remembered the promise he made to the detective’s child. He would not break a promise, and the detective knew that. “Not fair, Detective.”

“Maybe not, but I know you’re a man of your word, right?” Chloe asked.

Lucifer nodded before picking up his food and shoveling a bite of pancakes into his mouth.

Chloe smiled as she watched him eat. “So, I was thinking maybe you could show me around soon. I could use a guide to help me get used to this place.”

“I can’t,” Lucifer said as he glanced at his father. Honestly, he wasn’t too put out by the rule that he couldn’t leave his father’s quarters without an escort. Well, he was put out by the fact that he had rules at all, but not by the rule itself. He didn’t want to venture into the City.

“I said you weren’t to leave without telling me, nor without someone with you. Now, I will amend that to insisting you go with someone who has the power to protect you from yourself,” God said. Chloe Decker by herself wouldn’t do, nor would Amenadiel, because neither had the power to stop his son if he tried to hurt himself. “Perhaps Uriel wouldn’t mind accompanying you.”

Uriel hesitated. He had no more desire to leave these rooms than his brother did. He didn’t know what his siblings knew about what happened to him and he didn’t want to find out first hand. “I…I actually thought I’d stay here a bit longer.”

“You may stay as long as you wish, Uriel. You know that all of you are always welcome here. However, I don’t want you to lock yourself away. No one thinks less of you because of what you’ve been through, and most don’t even know the details,” God said.

“It’s not a problem anyway. I was just thinking of something to do. It can always wait for a few days or so,” Chloe said. She honestly just thought it might be a good idea to get Lucifer out, but she wouldn’t push him, nor Uriel, into something neither were ready for.

“Yeah, maybe another day,” Lucifer said.

“Okay. Maybe you can give me a more in-depth tour into this house today. I only really got a glimpse yesterday,” Chloe said.

“I guess so,” Lucifer said. He really didn’t even want to do that. He wanted to lock himself away until he found a way to return to Hell and be punished as he deserved, but if this was what the detective wanted, he’d oblige her. “Do you want to go now?”

“Well, you should finish eating first,” Chloe said.

Lucifer pushed his plate away, which still had about half of his breakfast on it. “I’m not hungry anymore. We can go now. Unless you have objections, Dad,” he said, bitterly remembering that he basically wasn’t allowed to make a move without his father’s permission.

God wasn’t thrilled with the little amount his son had eaten, but decided not to push him over it right now. “No, you may go. However, I hope you that we need to talk soon.” There was so much that had to be said. They needed to deal with the lies that were told to them, and how their relationship had fallen apart, for which God knew he carried a great deal of blame. His wife had lied, but he allowed her to. He hadn’t questioned her. He hadn’t questioned his own son on what he’d been told because he was afraid he wouldn’t like the answer. He took the easy way out, and that wasn’t okay when he was a father. He held a good amount of responsibility for his son’s low opinion of himself, and that needed to be dealt with. 

Lucifer nodded, stood up, and headed out of the room. Chloe followed him.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

 

Chloe walked with Lucifer into the library. It was huge, spanning three stories tall. “This is the biggest library I’ve ever seen.”

“This is just Dad’s personal library. The main one in the City is much bigger,” Lucifer said. 

Chloe stared at him in disbelief before scanning the many books on the shelves nearest to her. “Are there any titles I’d have heard of?”

“I doubt it. Dad’s not big on fiction. In his mind, everything written down ought to be truthful. That’s why it always made me angry that lies were spread about me. He felt he had something to do with that,” Lucifer said.

“He didn’t, Lucifer. I’m positive about that,” Chloe said. God was livid with the lies spread about his son by humanity. He didn’t see his son that way. The only criticism she had with him there was that he didn’t do much to stop it, but she supposed that would entail giving proof of his existence, which might not go over so well.

“I know,” Lucifer said. If anything though, that just made him feel worse. It was one more thing he misjudged his father on.

“Can I ask you something? I’ve been wondering about it since I met your dad,” Chloe said.

“Certainly, Detective.”

“Your dad doesn’t call you Lucifer. He calls you Samael,” Chloe said.

“Samael is my given name. I changed it shortly after I left Hell. I was sending a message that I was no longer my father’s soldier. I was in control of my own life. I also hoped to hurt him be denouncing everything, including the name he gave me,” Lucifer explained.

“But everyone else calls you Lucifer, even Amenadiel.

Lucifer laughed bitterly. “You’d assume that’s because they respect my wishes, but that’s not the case. Or at least it isn’t with Amenadiel. The first time I saw him again after being sent to Hell, he told me he was glad I changed my name. He said I wasn’t worthy of anything our father gave me, including my name.”

Chloe began to bristle. She was sure Amenadiel no longer felt that way, but he had no business saying it to begin with. Undoubtedly, it only destroyed Lucifer’s self-esteem even more. Plus, it wasn’t true. God himself would say that, she was sure. “He shouldn’t have said that.”

“He was right,” Lucifer said.

“No, he wasn’t. You are not unworthy of anything. Even if you did something seriously bad, which you didn’t, kids make mistakes. They are still worthy of their parents’ love, and I know your father agrees,” Chloe said.

“We should go look in another room now,” Lucifer said before walking away without another word.


	17. Chapter 17

Lucifer walked with Uriel, Amenadiel, and Chloe through the Silver City. The detective kept asking him to show her around the City. He suspected that she just wanted to get him out of his room in his father’s quarters, where he spent the majority of his time. He’d of course given in. There wasn’t much he wouldn’t do for the detective.

Chloe looked around.. The City looked mostly like a normal city. There were many houses around, many of which looked normal. There were also gated estates that looked like they could fit a small army each. There were also a couple of ponds with fountains every now and again. It looked like an upscale neighborhood. “This doesn’t look much different than Earth.

“There are similarities, though it’s more peaceful here,” Amenadiel said.

“Are all these houses where human souls are?” Chloe asked.

“Yes. Most human souls imagine homes to live in with their other loved ones, and most appear as the homes they lived in when they were alive?” Uriel explained.

“Do they ever come out here?” Chloe wondered. 

“Sometimes. Souls are free to go where they please. Well, except for angel homes,” Uriel said. 

“Let me guess. Those are the gated properties?” Chloe asked.

Amenadiel nodded. “It’s to make sure souls can’t just enter whenever they want.”

Chloe turned to Lucifer. “Do you have properties like your siblings?”

“No. I was the equivalent of around seventeen. I still lived in Father and… and Mother’s quarters,” Lucifer said. He stammered when mentioning his mother. It hurt awfully to even think of her, let alone speak her name. She’d betrayed him his whole life. She admitted to hating him. Perhaps he deserved to be hated. He certainly felt that way after everything he’d done. But she was still his mother, and even after what she’d done, and after he’d been willing to take her on for Uriel, it still hurt that she hated him.

Chloe took his hand and squeezed it comfortingly. She felt so bad for her partner. He’d been treated so terribly by his mother, and his father to a lesser extent. God may not have meant to harm his son, but he had. As Lucifer’s father, he should’ve talked to him about what his wife had said before just sending him away. But parents made mistakes, even God, apparently. He seemed to be learning from his mistakes. He was trying to do better by his son.

Soon, they all began walking some more. They came up to a large building that looked to Chloe like it could fit an entire town into it.

“That’s Heaven’s library. It would have a copy of every single book ever created, by celestials and humans. Father doesn’t like works of fiction, but he knows the souls here do, as do some angels,” Amenadiel explained.

“Wow!” Chloe said in disbelief.

“We should head back soon. We’ve been going for about an hour. I suspect you won’t ever venture further beyond this point anyway, Chloe,” Uriel said.

“How big is this place?” Chloe wondered. She knew it was much bigger than the distance they traveled, but she wasn’t sure how much bigger. 

Uriel and Amenadiel laughed, and even Lucifer cracked to a smile before answering her. “This place is beyond the concept of space, Detective.”

“Yes, it has to be. So many souls show up on a daily basis. As they do, the City expands. There’s really no end to it,” Amenadiel explained.

Chloe looked around for about the millionth time in awe. “Wow. I never imagined Heaven looking like this. Of course, until recently, I didn’t think it existed at all.”

“Yes, I’ve noticed that many humans don’t believe Heaven to be real. Many souls are in awe when they arrive,” Uriel commented.

“Perhaps we should go back now. It will be a long walk for the detective,” Lucifer said. Truthfully, he’d had enough. He didn’t really want to come out at all, afraid he’d run into his siblings. That had yet to happen, but he didn’t feel like tempting fate.

Chloe knew that Lucifer wanting to go back had nothing to do with her. “If you wanna go back, we can.”

Before they could turn around, a new, colder voice could be heard. “Well, look who had the guts to return.”

Lucifer recognized the voice immediately. It came from his younger brother; one he’d always had a contentious relationship with.

Amenadiel was the first to turn around, noticing two angels behind him. One was tall with dirty blonde hair. The other was shorter with wavy brown hair. “Eremiel, you and Kemuel need to turn around and leave.” Amenadiel said with authority. Eremiel was the ring leader, he knew. Despite being the older of the pair, he was always more of a leader, and he was the one always butting heads with Lucifer. He’d always been jealous because Lucifer, or Samael, as he was at the time, was always favored, not just by their father, but also many of their siblings. 

“Or what, big brother? Rumor has it that you don’t have your powers anymore? I suppose that’s why you’ve lowered yourself to defending this monster,” Eremiel said.

Lucifer flinched at the term his brother used to describe him.

“Who the hell are you?” Chloe asked. 

“None of your concern, Human. You shouldn’t be here anymore than he should,” Eremiel said scathingly. 

“Your father disagrees, on both fronts,” Chloe said.

“Yes, well, he’s unfortunately easily manipulated by this creature here,” Eremiel snarled.

“Or you’re an idiot. Given that you’ve never been one of the brightest, I’m going to go with that theory,” Uriel piped up. 

“Eremiel, perhaps we should leave. Dad was clear,” Kemuel said. 

“I’m not leaving until Samael knows his place. Oh, wait, you call yourself Lucifer now. It means ‘light bringer’, doesn’t it? It fits you even less than your actual name. You bring evil wherever you go,” Eremiel said hatefully.

Lucifer didn’t speak, and with every word spewed, he only felt worse. Normally, he gave as good as he got with Eremiel, but how could he fight against something he believed was true. Every word his brother spat at him was how he thought of himself. For once, Eremiel was right. He was everything the younger being said he was.

“Stop it! What’s wrong with you?!” Chloe asked angrily. She was watching Lucifer. His spirit was being destroyed more and more by the minute, and that was something she didn’t imagine was possible.

“Hey! What’s going on?” a new voice said. 

Chloe watched as a man with curly black hair came over. He looked slightly younger than Amenadiel. 

“It doesn’t concern you, Michael,” Eremiel said with a glare.

Michael’s eyes were fixed on Samael, who looked downtrodden and was avoiding everyone’s eyes. This wasn’t at all what he expected a confrontation to be like, and given the parties involved, it was most certainly a confrontation. Samael gave as good as he got, especially with Eremiel. But right now, he seemed to have no life. He looked beaten, which didn’t sit well with Michael. No matter what had happened before, Samael was his little brother. He didn’t want to see him so unlike himself. “Samael, are you okay?”

“You’re seriously asking him that?” Eremiel asked in disbelief.

“Shut up, Eremiel. For once learn to censor yourself,” Michael said.

“Who’s this?” Chloe quietly asked the others.

“This is my younger brother, Michael,” Amenadiel said.

Chloe recognized the name immediately. She was never religious, but it was impossible not to know of some well-known angels from the Bible. Michael was definitely one of them. She’d probably be shocked if she hadn’t also spent a great deal of time with God, as well as the so-called Devil.

“Amenadiel, what happened?” Michael asked in disbelief. He knew his brother would understand that it wasn’t the argument now that he was referring to. He wanted to know what happened to their brother.

“Mom,” Amenadiel whispered.

That much, Michael had known. His father had confirmed that their mother had done something to Samael. He never imagined that it could be so bad that it would break Samael’s spirit though.

Michael turned to Eremiel and Kemuel. “You’d better leave before you make it worse for yourselves when Dad finds out, because I assure you, he will.”

“You would take his side?! He is a monster! Mom is dead because of…”

“She is dead because of herself! She deserved it!” Michael yelled back hotly. He hated his mother to the point that he could not adequately express it. He wouldn’t hear her defended.

“Here, here,” Uriel agreed. 

Eremiel glared at them all before leaving, motioning for his brother to follow. 

Chloe grabbed Lucifer’s hand, “Are you okay?”

Lucifer pulled away and walked in the other direction. He didn’t want to be comforted. He didn’t deserve it.

Chloe immediately followed him, as did Uriel

“He’s not okay, is he?” Michael asked his older brother.

Amenadiel shook his head sadly. “I don’t know all the details, but Mom utterly destroyed any self-worth he had.”

“Dad said he was afraid Samael was a danger to himself. I don’t think I understood how serious he was until seeing him. He looked defeated. He didn’t even try to defend himself, did he?” Michael asked.

“No.”

Michael sighed. “I don’t even know what to do with this.” He’d been certain what his mother had done to him couldn’t possibly be less cruel than anything she might have done to his siblings, but he was beginning to rethink that. Samael was one of the strongest. It couldn’t be easy to break him like that.

“Neither do we. Thanks for the help, Michael,” Amenadiel said before walking away and going to catch up to his other siblings.


	18. Chapter 18

Chloe was angry as she sat in God’s living room. She couldn’t get what happened with that hateful angel that called himself Lucifer’s brother out of her head. She really didn’t care what he’d said to her. She didn’t care what he thought about humanity. What he’d said to Lucifer was unacceptable though. 

Chloe knew that siblings were mean to each other at times, but anyone could tell that Lucifer was already barely hanging on. She was sure that his brother had seen that as well. He didn’t care. He wanted to break Lucifer. What kind of brother did that?

“Are you okay, Chloe?” Amenadiel asked.

“I’m pissed. That shouldn’t have happened,” Chloe said.

“You’re right, it shouldn’t have happened. And believe me, Father will impress that upon Eremiel and Kemuel,” Amenadiel said as he sat down next to her. His father was going to be extremely angry when he found out what happened. He knew his father would’ve gone out of his way to make sure everyone knew that they were to treat Lucifer with respect. 

“It was horrible. He gets treated like dirt because of a fight that happened millennia ago, one orchestrated by your mother, and that your father never truly held against him,” Chloe said. God had never sent Lucifer away because he couldn’t forgive him. He’d done it because he was trying to protect all of his children. He might have been angry, not no more so than any other parent was when their kid fell out of line. And yet, Lucifer’s siblings felt they could use it to hurt him.

Amenadiel shook his head. “No, it’s not exactly like that. Eremiel would’ve found something to use against Lucifer regardless. They’ve never gotten along. Eremiel’s always been jealous of Lucifer. Usually, Lucifer fights back pretty well, and comes out victorious, but he can’t seem to do that right now. I’m sure Eremiel took great pleasure in that.”

“Fine, but he’s not the only one. Lucifer didn’t want to come here because he knew how people would feel about him. What happened today was what he was afraid of,” Chloe said. That was the impression she got anyways. When he said, he didn’t belong here right after his father told him he had to come, Chloe got the impression he felt that he wouldn’t be welcomed.

“Yeah, okay, there are some that are angry at him. He tried to lead a rebellion against our father. No one knew the real reason why, and most still don’t. That makes them angry, but most won’t act like Eremiel did,” Amenadiel assured her.

“Will they act like you did? Their oldest brother, the one they likely look up to the most? The brother that told Lucifer that he didn’t even deserve the name he’d been given?” Chloe asked with a glare. Amenadiel wasn’t really that much better than the bastard who’d torn Lucifer apart today. He treated Lucifer just as awfully. 

Amenadiel bowed his head in shame. “I shouldn’t have said that. I was angry, not just because he rebelled, but because he denounced everything in his life. He denounced us. I wanted to hurt him, and I didn’t want him to see that he’d hurt me. So, anytime I saw him, I treated him badly. I didn’t mean it.”

“You need to tell him that then,” Chloe said, her voice much softer. After listening to him, and seeing his guilt, she understood him a little better. He still royally screwed up, but she could understand wanting to hurt someone back. The sad part was that that was what Lucifer was probably doing by denouncing his family. He felt hurt, so he wanted to hurt his family back. It turned into a circle of pain.

“I want to, but I don’t want him to think I’m just saying because of what’s happening now. I want him to know I really am sorry,” Amenadiel said.

Just then, they heard the sound of the door open and close, followed by God’s voice. “Where’s Samael?”

“Father, something happened…”

“I know. I spoke with Michael. I will deal with the situation. Where’s your brother?” God demanded to know. It was very clear that he was angry. He’d made himself very clear to each one of his children. They were to treat their brother with kindness. He should have known that if anyone would break that order, it would be Eremiel.

“He wanted to be alone. I think he’s in his room,” Chloe answered.

God wordlessly walked down towards the bedrooms. When he got to Samael’s door, he found it closed, which made him a bit unhappy, as he told his son he wasn’t to close his door for any reason. However, under the circumstances, he was prepared to let it go with just a reminder to leave the door open.

God knocked before opening the door and walking inside. It looked as though the room was empty. He was about to leave and search elsewhere, but then he heard a faint noise inside the room.

“Samael?” God called as he walked further into the room. He walked around the bed, and the first thing he saw was his son laying on the ground with a knife beside him. The next thing he saw was that his son’s left arm was cut up pretty badly.

God immediately rushed to his son’s side. The first thing he did was push the knife away before grabbing his son’s arm.

Lucifer groaned a bit as he felt his arm seized. He was very pale and his eyes were barely open. He felt quite woozy from the blood loss as well. He barely noticed his father’s presence with his blurry vision. “Dad?”

“You’re going to be alright, son. Hold on,” God said in a strained voice. He put his hand over his son’s arm and quickly healed it. He then stood up before carefully pulling his son up and helping him onto the bed. While his injury was healed, Samael would still feel the effects from the blood loss for a little bit.

Lucifer groaned a little as he laid down. “Sorry.”

God didn’t reply. He needed a moment to collect himself. He looked down at his hands and found them to be shaking. This was a little much for him. He knew his son was a danger to himself, but the point wasn’t really driven home until he saw his child bleeding to death at the boy’s own hands. He knew that even if his son died, he wouldn’t lose him, as he would just end up back there, but knowledge that his son had wanted to hurt himself still left God reeling.

After a minute or two, God went over and picked up the knife, which still had his son’s blood on it. He recognized it as one he kept in his desk. He turned back to his son, who was a little more alert now. “You took this from my office?”

“Yes,” Lucifer said quietly while avoiding his father’s gaze.

God put the knife in the inside of his suit jacket pocket and made a mental not to get it, as well as any other object that could potentially be used as a weapon, out of his quarters. He then walked over to his son’s bed and sat down next to him. “Look at me, Samael, now.”

Lucifer did as his father commanded. “I’m sorry.”

“Are you? You were trying to kill yourself. I think the only thing you’re sorry for is that you failed,” God said. There was no anger in his voice, just extreme sadness.

“No, Dad, I wasn’t, I swear,” Lucifer said. He couldn’t say he didn’t think about it when the knife was in his hands. He wanted to die. He felt he deserved it, but he would just end up right back in Heaven, as his father already told him he wouldn’t allow him to go to Hell. Until he found a way around that, there was no point in trying to end his life.

“Then what were you doing? Are you going to tell me this was an accident?” God asked with a fair amount of skepticism in his voice.

Lucifer shook his head, which he came to regret, as his head was still swirling a bit. “No. I…I heard that some humans give themselves superficial cuts to ease the pain sometimes. I never understood how pain could be healed by more pain, but I thought I’d try. I guess I cut too deep.”

“I find it deeply concerning that you think the problem is that you cut too deep,” God said sadly. 

“It hurts, Dad,” Lucifer said miserably.

God began running a hand through his son’s hair. “I know it does, son, but harming yourself isn’t going to make it stop.”

“It helped for a bit. I felt like I was giving myself what I deserved,” Lucifer said.

“You do not deserve to be hurt,” God said.

Lucifer didn’t reply. He just started rubbing his eyes. 

“Go to sleep, Samael. We’re going to have a talk tomorrow, a very long one,” God said firmly. He would let this go. They were going to have to talk about this extensively, and probably more than once.

Lucifer closed his eyes and immediately drifted off to sleep.


	19. Chapter 19

Lucifer wake up the next morning in his bed. His father was seated next to him in a chair. It didn’t really surprise him that his father was still there. He probably felt the need to watch him in case he woke up and tried to hurt himself again

“Good morning, son. Are you feeling better?” God asked.

“Yeah,” Lucifer said. The affects from the blood loss had long since worn off. He no longer felt sick or dizzy. “Are you angry with me?”

“No, son, but I’m not happy either. We’re going to have a long talk later. Actually, I’d say we’ll have several over the coming weeks or months. For now, take a few minutes to wake up and then come down to breakfast, alright?” God asked before standing up.

“I’d rather not,” Lucifer said. He imagined by now that everyone in his father’s quarters knew what he did. The detective was going to be very disappointed in him, and Amenadiel and Uriel would likely look at him with pity, not that they didn’t already.

God could sense what his son was thinking. “I haven’t told anyone what happened last night, though I imagine they know something is wrong, as I barely left your side. I will need to tell them soon though, so they are aware of how bad the situation is.”

“Because I can’t be trusted to look after myself,” Lucifer spoke bitterly.

“At this point, no. Last night is proof that you are not well. Until you are again, I need to make sure your safe. Now, we will discuss this all later, but in the meantime, please do as I’ve asked,’ God said.

Lucifer nodded after a minute and watched his father leave.

 

Xxxxxxxxxxx

 

Much to Lucifer’s delight, breakfast was mostly quiet. He was questioned a couple of times about how he was doing, but for the most part, he was left alone. Once breakfast was over, his father had asked everyone to leave, so that the two of them could be alone. That, Lucifer was a little less happy about.

God led his son to the couch where they both sat down.

“Do we have to do this?” Lucifer asked.

“Yes, we do. What happened last night is very serious. If I hadn’t come in when I did, you might have died,” God said seriously.

“What difference does it make. I would’ve just ended up here anyway, and you could’ve revived me,” Lucifer said. 

“That’s not the point, Samael,” God said in a stern tone. “I don’t want you hurting yourself.”

Lucifer looked away from his father. “I didn’t mean for it to become that bad.”

“That doesn’t comfort me, son. You didn’t mean to harm yourself so bad that it would kill you, and I’m guessing that’s only because you knew it wouldn’t get you far, but you did mean to hurt yourself,” God said.

Lucifer didn’t reply. He couldn’t really refute that.

“I know yesterday was a very hard day for you. Michael told me what happened,” God said.

Lucifer fiddled with his hands and looked down at them as he did. 

God reached over and gently took his son by the chin and turned his head back towards him. “I’m very sorry about what happened. I promise I will speak to Eremiel. This will not happen again.”

“Why? He was right,” Lucifer said. 

“No, my son, he was not. I know what he said, and he knows he had no business anything of the sort to you. He will be dealt with,” God promised. 

Lucifer remained silent.

God put a comforting hand on his son’s shoulder. “Tell me why you think so badly of yourself, son. Tell me how you’re feeling.”

“Because I’m an awful son! You know that.” Lucifer said.

“I know no such thing. Why do you think that? Because we fought? Because I was angry? Samael, I can be angry with you and still love you,” God said. 

“You shouldn’t love me. I don’t deserve it,” Lucifer said in a broken tone.

“Samael, there is no scenario in the world where I wouldn’t love you. There is not a single thing you could do to lose my love,: God said as he squeezed his shoulder. 

“But I was terrible! I betrayed you. I…I let Mother manipulate me. She told me I should rebel,” Lucifer said.

“I know,” God said quietly. 

“She said that it was the only way to prove that I was right to seek what I wanted. She said you’d be proud of me for standing up to you,” Lucifer said.

“I was already proud of you, son,” God said.

“But you weren’t when I rebelled. You were mad at me,” Lucifer said.

“I was,” God admitted. He couldn’t deny being angry. His son had disobeyed him and tried to fight him, involving some of his siblings as well. Of course, he was angry. But children disobeyed at times. That didn’t mean parents stopped loving them. He could never stop loving his son. He certainly didn’t see him as bad. 

“Mum said you were so angry that you wanted me dead,” Lucifer said.

“That’s not true. There is no amount of anger I could feel for you to make me want you dead. Finding you the way I did last night nearly broke me. I would never harm you,” God said firmly. He knew his son knew that now, but he still wanted to drive the point home. He wouldn’t have Samael thinking that he would hurt him like that. 

“I know. She told me the truth when she was beating me. I shouldn’t have believed her. I believed the worst of you. That’s what makes me a bad son,” Lucifer said. 

“For believing something your mother told you? She was your mother. You would have no reason to believe she was lying to you, just as you had no reason to believe she was trying to hurt you by telling you to fight me. Why would you believe your mother was trying to hurt you?” God asked.

Lucifer sniffed and rubbed his eyes as tears began to fall. “It didn’t stop me from believing you wanted to hurt me.”

God rubbed his son’s back. “That’s my fault. I sent you away without ever telling you why. I knew inside that it was wrong to send you away and I couldn’t face you. Something just told me that something wasn’t right with what I was being told, but I just couldn’t believe your mother was lying to me. I couldn’t imagine that your mother could be sabotaging her own son.”

Lucifer looked at his father with tears streaming down his face. “She hated me. Why? What did I do to her? There must be something terrible about me for my own mother to hate me.” He knew his mother didn’t love any of them, but she admitted to feeling even more hatred for him than any of the rest. There had to be a reason for that.

“No, my boy,” God said before pulling his son into his arms. “Never believe you did anything to deserve what she’s done to you. You didn’t. None of you did anything wrong.”

“But…”

“No ‘buts’, Samael. She was the problem, not any of you. I know you’re hurting, and I know you feel really badly about yourself, but we’re going to get through this together. You’ve done nothing wrong. I will tell you that as much as I have to,” god said as he held him tightly.

Lucifer buried his face in his father’s arms and cried harder


	20. Chapter 20

Lucifer walked into the library in his father’s quarters. He found the detective in the center of the library. Sher was sitting at one of the tables reading. “Detective?”

Chloe stopped what she was doing and turned to him. “Hi. Is everything okay?”

“Yes, it’s fine. I just haven’t seen you much lately. I was wondering if you were angry,” Lucifer said. He had seen her, but not much. A couple of days ago, he’d had to tell her, plus Amenadiel and Uriel, about cutting his arm. She’d been avoiding him since.

“No, Lucifer, I’m not angry. I am frustrated though, and maybe a little guilty. Maybe that’s why I’ve been keeping my distance a bit. I’m sorry,” Chloe said. She really didn’t mean to avoid him, but learning he’d tried to hurt himself shook her, and she feared she’d say something she’d regret or lose it in front of him and make him feel worse.

“Guilty? Why would you feel guilty, Detective?” Lucifer asked in confusion.

“I shouldn’t have left you alone after what happened with your brothers,” Chloe said. She’d known that Lucifer was suicidal, and she knew that what his asshole brother said to him had broken him even further. She should’ve kept a better eye on him.

“Detective, this is not your fault. You aren’t responsible for what I did,” Lucifer said firmly.

Chloe sighed. “Lucifer, please don’t do it again. I know why you did it. I’ve met a few people who thought hurting themselves was the answer to numbing pain, but it’s not. It’s dangerous. You could’ve died.”

Lucifer knew he could argue that if he died, he wouldn’t really go anywhere, but he chose not to. It would only upset her more. “I…I didn’t mean for it to go that far. I promise you; I wasn’t trying to kill myself.”

“I believe you, but it’s not that much more comforting to know that you purposely hurt yourself. Listen, I know you’re in a lot of pain. I can’t imagine what it’s like to be treated so brutally by your own mother, and then to be verbally beaten by your brother,” Chloe said.

Lucifer shrugged and looked away. “Eremiel and I have always battled. He was always an annoying little pest. He made it his mission to antagonize me. But he was right to say what he did that day.”

“That’s not true. I think your brother knew that you were hurting and he used it to exploit you. He shouldn’t have done that. It was really low,” Chloe said.

“It doesn’t mean he wasn’t right,” he said.

“He wasn’t. Lucifer, you are not responsible for anything that’s happened. I wish you would see that. Your mother is the one who is responsible,” Chloe said.

Lucifer shook his head. “She didn’t make me betray my father. She didn’t make me rebel. She manipulated me into it, but she didn’t force me.”

“You didn’t betray your father. You were a kid who made a mistake. Your father gets that. He only sent you to Hell because your mother lied to him, and he knows he shouldn’t have even done it then,” Chloe said. She wished he could believe her, but she knew why he couldn’t. He was abused. His mother mentally ripped him apart. Victims of abuse couldn’t see that it wasn’t their fault a lot of times.

Lucifer shook his head. She couldn’t understand. He betrayed his family, both when he rebelled and since then when he verbally trashed his father for sending him to Hell. He’d been so angry about that, but it all changed when he found out his mother had orchestrated by his rebellion and him being sent to Hell. Now, all he saw was how stupid and terrible he’d been.

Moments later, both Lucifer and Chloe heard someone approach. They both turned to see Lucifer’s brother, Michael, walking towards them.

“Hello. I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” Michael said.

“No, it’s fine,” Chloe said.

Lucifer, meanwhile, had his eyes downcast, not wanting to face his brother.

Michael stuck his hand out towards his brother’s friend as soon as he was close enough. “I didn’t get the chance to properly introduce myself when we saw each other before. “My name is Michael.”

Chloe shook his hand. “Chloe Decker.”

“It’s good to meet you. Please let me apologize for my brothers, Eremiel and Kemuel. I hope you don’t assume we’re all like that,” Michael said.

Chloe shook her head. “I don’t judge people based on their family members. I’ve known quite a few members of your family to be kind, including you. Thank you for coming to help that day.”

“Yes, of course,” Michael said before turning to his brother, who so far had refused to look at him. That unnerved him, just as his brother’s behavior did the last time he saw him. He was very quiet and withdrawn, which wasn’t his brother. Samael was always loud, and if someone had a problem with him, he faced it and gave as good as he got. “Samael, could we talk alone for a few minutes.

“I’ll give you a few minutes. Unless you’d rather I stay, Lucifer,” Chloe said as she stood up. She wouldn’t leave if Lucifer wasn’t comfortable with it. She didn’t think Michael meant his brother any harm, but there had obviously been some tension between the two, given the way Lucifer was reacting. If he didn’t want to be alone with Michael, he wouldn’t be forced to. 

“It’s fine, Detective,” Lucifer said quietly.

“Okay. I’ll be in the kitchen getting something to eat,” Chloe said before heading out of the library.

“She’s nice. It’s obvious she cares about you. You must care for her a great deal to, since Dad brought her here for you,” Michael said. 

Lucifer nodded while still avoiding his older brother’s eyes.

“Samael, what’s wrong? You’ve never avoided me like this before, even when you were angry with me,” Michael said. They’d had a particularly ugly confrontation right before Samael was sent away, and his brother answered every angry accusation with an equally angry response.

“What do you care, Michael. You can’t stand me,” Lucifer said. He didn’t really blame his brother. He used to, but not anymore. His brother was right to hate him. He certainly hated himself.

“I can’t deny being angry. I felt that you betrayed us when you rebelled. What’s worse is that Mom told me once that you were willing to physically hurt us to get what you wanted,” Michael said. It occurred to him now that that was suspect, but at the time, he still believed his mother loved them. When he found out otherwise, it just didn’t occur to him that she was lying about Samael. But after learning she’d hurt Samael too; he’d started to think about it. His brother certainly wasn’t capable of hurting anyone now. He couldn’t bring himself to defend himself against a verbal attack. 

“She lied,” Lucifer said before sitting down in the detective’s vacated chair.

Michael sat down across from him. “Yeah, I was beginning to think she did. Look, I don’t know what exactly she did to you, but I know she’s capable doing a lot, even to us.”

“She came after you too then?” Lucifer asked. He sort of assumed that. The last time he’d seen him, Michael had said that he was glad their mother was dead, and the way he spoke about it made it clear it was personal. 

Michael nodded. “She only did it a couple of times, but it was enough. I was going to tell Dad about what she was doing to humans. I made the mistake of confronting her. After a couple of severe beatings, she got my silence. Luckily, Uriel was more brave than me, and she did much worse to him.” He’d spoken to Uriel, and his brother admitted that their mother used hit him whenever she could. He couldn’t imagine what that had been like for him. Just two beatings made Michael terrified of his mother.

“That’s probably why he was able to do it. He didn’t have much to lose,” Lucifer said.

“What about you? You don’t have to tell me, but I’m here to listen if you want to,” Michael said.

“She didn’t touch me until recently, when I confronted her about Uriel. Before that, she do nothing but go on about how much she wanted to be a family again. She told me she loved me,” Lucifer said with a sneer. It made him sick to think about his mother’s lies. She never loved him. She had literally lied and manipulated him his whole life.

“But she did something,” Michael asked. There had to be something else. While Michael was sure his brother would be hurt, and not just physically, after a single attack from their mother, he didn’t believe it would damage him like this.

Lucifer sighed. He didn’t really want to talk about it, but he decided it was only fair that Michael knew. Lucifer knew about what happened to both Michael and Uriel. They ought to know about him too. “The lie that she told you about me, she told Dad too. That’s why he sent me to Hell.”

“I know. Dad wouldn’t have just sent you to Hell for rebelling, and it really hurt him to do it. He wasn’t really the same after that. I knew there had to be a bigger reason. That’s when Mom told me her lie,” Michael explained.

“Hell wasn’t even what she wanted. She wanted me dead,” Lucifer said with hurt in his voice. He didn’t want to care that his mother hated him so much, but he did. She was his mother. He couldn’t not care that she hated him so much.

“Did she tell you that?” Michael asked.

He nodded. “Yeah, while she beat me. She let me know how much she hated me, and that what I thought I knew about Dad wasn’t true. She’d told me earlier that Dad was the one that wanted me dead, for rebelling. She knew I’d believe her because I was already angry with her.

“Samael, I’m sorry. I can’t imagine all that,” Michael said. In certain ways, he imagined that was worse than chronic beatings. His brother had been isolated from his home. He felt rejected by the only parent that actually cared about him. Then he was told that that parent actually wanted him dead. It was awful.

“I forgot to tell you the beginning of the story. Mum set up the whole thing to begin with. She coached me into demanding Free Will from Dad, and when he wouldn’t give it to me, she convinced me that what I had to do next was fight him. It was the only way he’d respect me and give me what I wanted,” Lucifer said bitterly.

Michael closed his eyes sadly. Everything he thought he knew about his brother turned out to be a lie. None of it had really been his fault. His mother had been there manipulating everything. Yes, Samael had made the decision, but why wouldn’t he. She was his mother. Why wouldn’t he trust her when she told him something. “Oh, man. I’m so sorry, Samael.”

Lucifer pulled away as his brother reached for him. “Stop! Don’t feel sorry for me! I let her manipulate me. I betrayed everyone I loved!”

“That’s not true. It was her fault.”

“No, I did it. I deserved to be sent to Hell! I deserved to be killed! Father should’ve killed me!” Lucifer yelled. There were tears in his eyes at the end.

“No, you didn’t,” Michael said before standing up and approaching his brother. He put a hand on his shoulder. 

Lucifer put his arms on the table and buried his head in them as he cried.

“It’s okay, Samael. You’re home. No one can hurt you anymore,” Michael said. He knelt next to him and wrapped his arms around him.


	21. Chapter 21

Lucifer walked out into the living room in the middle of the night. He couldn’t sleep. He’d woken from a nightmare. He dreamed of his father telling him how much of a monster he was and how much he hated him. All the things he felt he deserved to hear. 

When Lucifer got to the living room, he found his father sitting at the couch with a book in one hand and a glass of Scotch in the other.

God looked up from his book and smiled at his son. “Hello, Samael. You’re having trouble sleeping, I see.”

Lucifer nodded. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” God asked.

He shook his head. He’d feel really stupid and childish complaining about a nightmare, especially when his father featured in it.

The two looked at each other for a few moments. God could tell that his son didn’t want to be alone, and he probably did want to talk about what was upsetting him, but didn’t feel he could. “Come sit,” God said as he patted the seat next to him.

Lucifer immediately went and sat over by his father. 

“Talk with me, son. It doesn’t have to be about what’s troubling you. We can talk about whatever you want,” God said. He wanted to get him to relax a little. 

“Like what?” Lucifer asked.

“You choose. You can tell me about your friendship with Chloe or something else about your life on Earth. Come on. We haven’t actually had small talk in a while,” God said. They’d spoken quite a bit recently, but the deep conversations they’d had were much different than casual ones. That would help his son relax a bit. 

“Hmm. Several thousand years. I prefer Earth. It’s much better than Hell, and even here. More interesting,” Lucifer said.

God chuckled before standing up to pour himself another drink. He walked to the mini bar and grabbed the bottle of Scotch. “Yes, humans are very interesting, aren’t they?”

“I don’t suppose you’d pour me one of those,” Lucifer said. He doubted it but he had to try. He could definitely use a drink at this point.

God stopped and contemplated the request for a few seconds before pouring a second glass. He walked back over and held one glass out for his son. “Just one. I don’t want you using alcohol as a crutch. Plus, I don’t think it’s a good idea for your mind to be clouded right now, alright?”

Lucifer nodded before taking the offered glass and taking the offered glass and took a sip.

God retook his seat on the couch next to his son. “So, go on. You were talking about living on Earth. You said you liked it.”

“Yeah, it’s become my home,” Lucifer said. It occurred to him moments afterwards that his father might be offended that he no longer felt like the Silver City was home. He didn’t say it to offend his father. It was just how he felt.

God wasn’t at all offended. He didn’t even appear the least bit upset about it. “I’m glad to hear that. I’m glad you found a place that you’ve been happy at.”

“Does that mean you didn’t send Amenadiel to take me back to Hell?” Lucifer asked. By now, he’d assumed as much. If his father really wanted him back in Hell back then, he could’ve made it happen himself.

“No, I didn’t send Amenadiel to do anything. I was happy that you did something to make your life better. You’ve done well on Earth. I was less than happy when I found out you’d had your wings cut off though,” God said. That had pained him, not just because his son had wanted to severe ties with him, but because he’d made such a statement by harming himself.

Lucifer cast his eyes down to his glass. There was a time when he felt entirely justified in cutting his wings off, and at that time, he would’ve said as much, but things were different now. “Sorry. I was angry.”

“I know. I just wish you found a better way to express it than by cutting off your body parts. But we don’t need to dwell on it. It’s in the past. I will not judge you for it,” God said. 

“Thank you.”

God nodded. “I hear you had a good talk with your older brother earlier.”

“I guess. Michael told me Mother hurt him as well. I always thought he was one of her favorites. Then again, so was Amenadiel. I guess none of us were safe. It seems you made the right call sending her to Hell,” Lucifer said.

“If I’d known that she’d laid a hand on any of you, I wouldn’t have sent her to Hell, nor would she have been allowed to roam Earth,” God said. If he’d known she was hurting his children, he would’ve ended her, just as he finally did. Hell wouldn’t have even been an option for her.

“Well, that’s my fault, isn’t it? I didn’t do send her back as you asked,” Lucifer said. In his defense, he wasn’t sure how he could send her back. He had no wings and neither did Amenadiel. He supposed he could’ve called one of his siblings down to help. He should’ve done something.

“Is that what you thought I was telling you when I showed you her cell?” God asked.

Lucifer nodded and took a large gulp of his drink.

“No, son, I would never ask you to do that. That would be beyond cruel. She was your mother. Plus, I could’ve sent her back myself if I wanted with ease. I was simply wanted you to know that she had escaped. I had actually hoped that she’d changed. I also hoped she could be a mother to you. I wanted you to have someone else you loved in your life,” God explained.

“So, you didn’t require anything of me for helping me save the detective?” Lucifer asked surprised.

“No, but I saw it as an opportunity to warn you of your mother. I ensured you visited Hell briefly instead of coming home here,” he said.

“Here?” Lucifer asked in disbelief. “I wouldn’t have gone back to Hell if I died without your interference?”

“No. I’d already made the decision that you weren’t being sent back to Hell. I’d been watching you and I thought you’d changed. My mistake was not realizing there wasn’t really anything to change. It had all been a lie. Still, I was more than ready for you to come home, but I knew you were not ready,” God explained.

Lucifer didn’t know what to say. He had apparently been allowed to return to Heaven even before his father realized he’d been lied to. He didn’t see him as a monster. Lucifer still did though. How could he not after leading a rebellion against his father because of his mother’s manipulations, and then he thought the worst of his father for many years. His father had always loved him, and Lucifer had turned his back on that.

God could see that his son’s mind was elsewhere, and could also tell that that it wasn’t in a good place. “Tell me what you’re thinking about, son. What’s wrong?”

“How could you want me back here after all that I’ve done? I started a rebellion. I fought you. Then I hated you for something that wasn’t your fault. You shouldn’t want anything to do with me. That’s what my dream was about, you realizing that,” Lucifer said.

God placed a hand on his son’s shoulder and squeezed in comfortingly. “We’ve talked about this, Samael, but as I said, I will keep saying it. You are my son. I will always love you. You did wrong by starting that rebellion. I won’t tell you otherwise, but you were young and you being manipulated, and even without those manipulations, what you did wasn’t unforgivable. It was a mistake. You were seventeen-centuries-old. You were prone to mistakes at that age.”

Lucifer screwed his eyes shut sadly. “That’s why, isn’t it? That’s why you wouldn’t allow me the Free Will humans had. I’ve seen how things are around here now. For the most part, everyone has Free Will. There are only a few rules you enforce. If I’d waited, I would’ve had it, wouldn’t I?”

God sighed. He’d hoped it would take longer for his son to figure that out, because he knew it would hit him hard. “Yes.”

“So, I’m even worse than I thought. I betrayed you for something that would’ve been granted to me if I’d just waited a bit longer,” Lucifer said. That only made him hate himself more. He’d felt so justified for so long in wanting and fighting for Free Will. Now he knew that the fight his mother instigated was pointless. He didn’t need to fight to get what he wanted.

“Hey. I could’ve told you why I wouldn’t grant you the right to make your own decisions. I didn’t because I didn’t think you’d understand, but if I had things may have been different. We have both made mistakes, son. That doesn’t mean anyone was betrayed. Unless you count your mother’s betrayal,” God said.

“I…I think I want to go back to bed now,” Lucifer said.

God sighed. His son was shutting down again. He couldn’t here anymore that his mistake wasn’t terrible. God didn’t like it, but he knew he had to let it go for now. He would try again another day. “Very well. I will see you in the morning. And please know you need to worry that I will turn on you, Samael. I love you no matter what you do.”

Lucifer nodded. He put his drink down on the table and got up and walked out of the room.


End file.
